You Are Not The Sun
by TheWalk
Summary: Hermione Granger's life has been turned around. But who's hasn't. A broken engagment, a new friendship, and then only another loss. How much can a single person handle within a year, two months, a day, and three hours?
1. Coffee Heals All Wounds

You Are Not the Sun

Chapter One

Jesus Christ, has it really been thirteen years? Thirteen years since Harry, Ron and I met. Thirteen years since Draco Malfoy began teasing me, only so many years since I've been considered a bookworm. Thirteen years to mark the trio's never-ending friendship. The lucky number of years that have kept us as close as siblings and as distant for the things we've faced. Thirteen.

Six years. Has it been six years? I ask myself this every day as I walk to work, as I walk up the stairs, past his office and go sit in my own. Six entire years since I graduated from Hogwarts, it was my one and only real home. Six damn years since everything went normal; uneasily silent. Six whole years.

It's been four years since I've been working at the Ministry. Two years of dull apprentice work, but two of gratifying Auror work. Four years of walking by him in the hall; both silent waiting awkwardly for our floors in the lift, breathing shallow. Trying to ignore each other as best we could for four full years; but always failing miserably.

Three years since Ron and I have been engaged. Two years of _bliss _and watching him play for the Cannons. Two years of having a stable relationship to fall back on. Two years of Harry and Ginny's soft and pleased looks, as though they had created the love themselves. Only two years.

One year. It has been one year since Ron has been ignoring me. For a whole year he was practically never home. Always training or on some tournament. And when he did come home, he wouldn't stay long, he would not touch me. He was tired. He would not have me at all. For a whole year I slept alone in all ways.

A single month. It has been a miniscule month since Ron broke off our engagement. He said he fell in love with another witch while he was training in Greece. Apparently she is beautiful; this is what Mrs. Weasley tells me. A month of tears and wondering what I had done wrong. Is being myself wrong? A small month stretched to eternity to show me how undesirable I am. One month all too much.

A week since he smiled at me. It was a real smile, and it was directed at me. But all it held was an empathy that I did not need. Nonetheless it was a smile. As miniscule and timid as it was, his lips stretched lightly and parted. It has been a week since he smiled at me.

Two minutes. Correction: three minutes. He asked me out for coffee. Just for coffee, not to discuss anything work related. All he wants is a coffee; I prefer mine black. His eyes didn't meet mine, but the understanding is there. It has now been four minutes since he asked me for coffee.

"Granger?" Draco whispered; he was worried about her health. He had asked her for coffee five minutes ago and she had yet to answer him. She was staring somewhere around the third button on his shirt. Her eyes were wide open and glazed softly, like a renaissance painting. The sound of his voice woke her and she looked up at him.

"Yes" she said simply. Now he was more worried, why had it taken her so long to answer a simple question?

"Okay, I'll drop by your office at five" he said slowly and clearly making sure she understood what he was saying. She nodded, but she didn't seem to be really aware yet. He smiled softly wondering what was really going through her mind.

He awkwardly patted her hand and began to walk out of her office. When he reached her door he turned back to glance at her, she was staring at her hand as though it was detached from her body.

Was it enough to say he felt awful for her? The whole ministry had avoided her for a month, unsure of what to say. Side-stepping her as though she held some contagious disease. It was common knowledge that Weasley had left her for some Greek model.

Ganger had simply come in to work one day, silent and cold. She didn't greet anyone, nor did she talk for the whole day. She entered her corner office at eight in the morning, and left at five in the afternoon. Again, existing as though she was the only person there; ignoring the real world circling her. Wrapped up in some little world of her own she became no more than a ghost.

By that evening the gossip was already being pressed for tomorrow's paper and her story was on the cover page.

_Cannon's_ _Keeper Ronald Weasley Breaks Engagement with Long Time Girlfriend and Member of Golden Trio Hermione Jane Granger! _

He had read the story and had felt sick about the whole thing. He and Granger were never on good terms, even though they were on the same side. But what Weasley had done was just wrong. He could empathize with Granger. Parkinson had done the same thing to him, he dated her for seven years, and then last year she just decided that he wasn't her type. Apparently Gregory Goyle was, or rather still is. From the new he had heard lately, it seemed they were getting serious. He hadn't loved Pansy, but he had grown to love her in an endearing way. It hurt all the same.

So why had he asked Granger for coffee? It had very little to do with her personal issues with Weasley and more to do with wanting to be near her. He was more alone here in the Auror office than anywhere before in his life.

People still had preconceived notions, and few were willing to give him a chance, and to get to know him. Even after four years of working side by side with him. So he was always alone…

Granger he knew, and somehow he felt that if anybody gave him a chance it might have been her. She knew what he had done for the order, she understood what position he was in, and other didn't know anything. They had no idea what he lived through to bring them this peace they were already beginning to take for granted.

He and Granger always shared tense moments, the kind where you expect the other person to talk, but then they don't so you keep quiet yourself. It happened a few times a day. They would greet each other shortly and then continue their game of ignoring each other. He had always been fascinated with her, since first year. Her intelligence made her seem far off and rather inhuman in her bookish ways.

When Weasley left her he finally saw the young woman behind the wall of books. Her face was strained with pain, her body rigid and uptight. It attracted him to her. Not in any sexual way, but simply because now she was approachable. Here she was, human and broken. And maybe he could soothe her pain. Even if it was just with coffee.

Less intimidating and much softer than before Granger seemed much more interesting. As though there was more to get to know now than facts and assignments. That enticed him.

Granger needed a friend right now, someone who wasn't connected to Weasley, she needed someone relatively new. And that was him; he had decided it so. Even though it had taken him four years to ask her to coffee, he had finally done it. And an end was an end no matter when it came.

It was terrifying in so many ways. He felt soft all over. He couldn't explain it, but since seventh year he had felt so detached from himself. Betraying his family and friends, to do the right thing…it changed him. He floated by these past six years as though he was non-existent. But rather nothing more than a soft fuzzy cloud unable to ground itself in reality.

He had nothing to associate himself with, so it was hard to define himself.

Draco Malfoy; a six foot two, wheat blond hair, grey eyed, Auror. That was his only applicable definition of himself. It was pathetic and shallow, but it was life; his life.

The door closed softly behind him with a click, but not before a few letters flew in and landed on his desk. He sat back into his leather chair and looked at the stacks of papers on his desk that Derek had dropped off. There were at least thirty cases to review before he could leave. He sighed, straightened his back and began by opening the folder that was at the top of the file.

* * *

Hermione kept looking at her hand where he had touched her for another good ten minutes. She placed the 'hand touch' into the logical order of events in her mind. Adding date and time. She had spent the last month placing her whole life in perfect chronological order in her head.

It was distraction from everything else. A distraction from sympathy and from having to feel emotions she would have been better off without. She sighed and looked back to the file on her desk. A minor misdemeanour; nothing more than that. The trial date was on Oct 26th. Guilty for jinxing a whistle that shrinks the blower's mouth into nothing. A minor fine and perhaps some community service?

Derek Bloom, case covered on October 18th and considered absolutely lame, right after Draco Malfoy asked me for a coffee and then touched my hand.

* * *

Malfoy placed down the last folder and looked at the clock. It was ten to five and he was a punctual man. He packed his things into his briefcase and apparated it home. He checked his hair in his mirror brushing stray strands from his eyes. Must make a good impression always, regardless of whose company you are in. He straightened his suit and exited his office walking down the hall to Grangers office. His fingers were tapping nervously on his thigh.

* * *

Hermione fixed her hair. She had finished her files at four forty-five and at four fifty she had got up from her desk to go fix her hair. Exactly what she was doing now in fact, she was smoothing it down with the help of her wand. She must looked presentable, who the company happened to be was irrelevant.

A knock on her door, three strong raps.

Now at four fifty-five Draco Malfoy was outside her door ready to _take her for coffee. _She pulled her sweater down and smoothed her skirt before going to answer the knock at exactly four fifty-six.


	2. In Love With The Idea

**Chapter Two**

**In Love With The Idea**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or related characters.

* * *

Draco smiled awkwardly, "ready?" he asked.

Hermione nodded uneasily, she stepped out of her office closing the door behind her. "So where do you plan to take me?" she asked casually as they headed to the lift.

"A nice little café by Owl Emporium. It's never packed and the lattes are to die for" he smiled turning towards her. Hermione was staring straight ahead, but he could see the small smile on her lips. I hope I don't fuck this up, how could I? Well… maybe I shouldn't jinx myself.

It's three after five. At this moment Draco Malfoy turned and looked and me when he thought I didn't notice, and he was smiling. So was I.

Draco pressed the down button and cleared his throat. Granger wasn't saying much. He placed his hands in his pockets and rocked uncomfortably on his heels. He was hoping that the whole time didn't pass in awkward silence.

"How work been going for you?" Hermione asked glancing to him, but looking away before he could look at her.

"Good" he said appreciatively "It could be better but oh well. I've had more office work that practical work so it's been a little boring. But to be honest, now that the whole Voldemort business has bust over, there really isn't much else to do. The remaining death eaters are pretty silent, so it makes it all boring" he shrugged, "You?"

"Same here, I'm dying to get out there, but all of the crime I'm receiving are enchanted whistles and jinxed brooms. Nothing terribly exciting" she sighed. The lift came and the stepped inside.

"As horrible as it sounds, I really want a case. A real case" Draco said musing over the idea.

Hermione nodded, "It would be a nice change from sitting at that god awful desk. I'm going to get fat if I don't start moving around" she said with a small laugh.

Draco laughed lightly too "I'd think that to be impossible"

Hermione frowned, was he complimenting her? Is he trying to get something from me? Does he need me to take on a case for him? Because I won't do it, I'm too overloaded myself for that. Damn I'm such a pessimist.

They stepped out on the main floor and Hermione silently followed a step behind Draco out the door and to his designated location.

"It's cute" she said lightly as they seated themselves at a small table. It was a delightful and informal café, practically empty but for three other people and two waitresses. Hermione took in the warm surroundings, many purples and gold's. It wasn't the type of place she had ever expected for Malfoy to choose as his familiar.

The waitress sauntered over to them, "What can I get you dears?" she asked kindly.

"Can I have a strong black coffee?" Hermione asked, she didn't know what else to get but it seemed like a good choice. Black is strong, and it shows nothing. It simply says I like a good coffee. I don't want to be fussy.

"And you dear?" she asked turning to Draco. He frowned softly considering what to get. Hermione couldn't help but smile at the look on his face; it was priceless. Malfoy in deep thought. It was a wonderful concept, something rare.

"A caramel correto with no foam, whipped cream please, a shot of espresso, soy milk, oh and can you do the swirly caramel thing on the top?" he asked with a sickly sweet smile.

The woman smiled at him softly, "Love, you're here everyday. I can do whatever you like" she laughed walking away. Draco smiled sheepishly at Hermione.

"Okay, enough with the small talk. Why did you invite me to coffee?" Hermione asked quickly, she marked the time in her head. Then she waited for his answer.

Draco was shocked, but she wasn't the smartest witch in his year for nothing. He just didn't know what to tell her. "Well, I really just wanted to t-talk with y-you" he stuttered looking at the table instead of her face.

"Why now?" Hermione asked, she couldn't just let this go "Why now, after thirteen years of hating me do you decide to talk with me?" she frowned; she needed to know if she was wasting her time here.

Draco could see her point; he was honestly surprised that she had even agreed to coffee in the first place. "Fair enough, but I never hated you" he said honestly.

"Oh please, you made my life miserable in school" she said waving her hand as though his thoughts were irrelevant.

"I don't deny that. But I never hated you; I mean…I honestly envied you. It just made me angry that you were so much better than me. But we're not in school anymore Granger. This is the real world. And I've grown up; I'm not an angry fourteen year old anymore. I'm looking to make amends and possibly make friends with people I admire" he said simply.

Hermione's eyes narrowed. She didn't like this at all; she couldn't understand what he really wanted from her. What was his motive for asking her for coffee? She just wasn't buying the friend shit. Malfoy's never change. Regardless of his help for the order, he had only done it for himself. To save his own ass; not to help us.

"You had four years. We've been working together the whole while" she said simply playing with the edge of the tablecloth.

"I know. But it's not that easy Granger. I mean, you're not the easiest girl to approach, you're actually rather intimidating" he muttered keeping his eyes fixed on his lap.

Hermione laughed softly, "Oh give me a break Malfoy, why are we pretending? You haven't changed a bit, and neither have I. So what is this about? Do you want me to handle a case for you? Do you need something from me?" she asked cruelly.

"I just wanted to have a real conversation with someone who I assumed would be smart" he said just as coldly. If she wanted to be that way, he could throw it back just as well.

"I can't believe that I'm sorry" she sighed.

"Many can't. You just don't get it Granger. I'm alone basically. Everyone thinks the same way as you. They all still consider me a death eater, even if I never was one in the first place. No one believes in turning over a new leaf, an epiphany of sorts. And I thought that you might" he said bitterly. The coffee was quickly going downhill.

Hermione felt as though she was in the twilight zone. She marked the time again, it was five twenty. "You understand how hard it is for me to believe anything you say?" she asked.

"Didn't I prove to you and everyone that I was on your side?" he asked in frustration, leaning over the table closer to her.

"Seven years of pain and abuse is difficult to forget. And your parents didn't exactly help your reputation" Hermione said also leaning forward. She felt like all of her nerves were burning at the ends.

"I was a kid, I'm sorry for what I did to you and everyone else. But I can't very damn well take it back. All I'm looking for is to keep living but everyone makes it so hard for me" he said angrily "No one knows what role I had in the battle, they all assume that I was just let go free, the death eaters must have let me walk out unharmed. Nobody knows. No one but you…" he muttered sarcastically leaning back in his chair.

Hermione sat silently. She had no idea what to do. Part of her felt guilty for acting the way she was. She knew he didn't really deserve what she was giving him. But a part of her, a thirteen year old Hermione Granger was still angry. She knew most of what he had done for the order. But there were even things that she did not know about. He had disappeared for a whole month, doing god knows what, and had arrived back to them with all kinds of information. Now she was faulting herself into being nice.

"Okay" Hermione said simply "I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. I can be civil when I chose to".

Draco just blinked; this was quite a turn from a mere moment ago. What was wrong with her? "All I'm asking for is for a little friendliness. I know it's not easy, it is me. But…" he stopped.

Hermione knew he had no one. His parents were dead, no friends at all. And people just avoided his at all times. She knew the past five years had been extremely lonely for him. She couldn't imagine what it was like. Hermione knew that if she didn't extend a hand of friendship to him, well then she would just be a bitch. She knew all of this, and yet it was so difficult to swallow.

"I know it's been hard for you, and it's just hard for me to get over what you used to be like. I can try though. And I don't think it's very fair for your role to be kept in the dark. But the Prophet prints what they like. Prejudiced bastards"

The waitress arrived with their coffees. "There you go dears" she said placing them on the table. Hermione reached for hers, it wasn't hot at all. She watched the retreating waitress. Either she was a horrible waitress, or she had been waiting for them to finish their conversation before interrupting. Hermione took a deep gulp of her and looked over the rim of her mug at Malfoy.

The years had been kind to him. He was now an attractive man in his early twenties. His hair had grown longer and looser, and his face was a little less harsh, he had filled in since childhood. She knew he was still an amazing bachelor; women were falling over themselves for the chance to talk to him at the office. But they all wanted his money. Not to know him, only to marry him and take him for all he was worth. Men simply ignored him. Hermione smiled wondering how many women would have killed to be in her position.

"Like what you see?" Draco asked catching her staring. Her brown eyes widened with shock.

He was still an arrogant bastard. "Maybe" she said simply setting her mug down, "I just don't see how you can be so lonely, there are women falling over themselves for a chance to talk to you" she frowned.

"Granger, it's not the same. Sure I can have sex with every woman who comes into my view, but that's not what I'm interested in. None of them want to talk to me, to get to know me. They want sex and presents basically. Since I know you aren't interested in either from me, all you have is my good conversation" he smiled.

Hermione laughed herself, "When I'm interested in sex with you, well, that will be the day we get married" she giggled. Malfoy laughed as well.

"Would you have dinner with me this weekend?" he asked suddenly. Hermione's laugher stopped quickly.

"Sure" she shrugged, "I don't really have anything better to do, next to crying and burning pictures of Ron and me it will be the highlight of my weekend" she smiled bitterly. Draco just nodded solemnly.

"I know you've heard it many times before, but I wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened between you and the weasel. He missed out on a good thing Granger. That Greek model will milk him dry and then leave him to rot. I've dated many women like that, they don't stick around very long" he said wisely "its women like you, who are smart, attractive and capable for themselves that are the catches. They're not after your money or fame, or beauty. So all it can be is personality. Someday I'm going to meet a woman like that" he smiled fondly.

"I hope to meet a man who won't leave me after three years of engagement, someone who won't waste my time" she said quietly.

"I'm hoping, but I can't honestly see it happening for me. I'm just one of those unlucky guys" Draco shrugged taking a drink of his latte. Hermione nodded.

"Marriage isn't for everyone. My mom told me that when she divorced my father a few years ago. I'm hoping it's not like that for me" Hermione said with a sad smile.

"You really wanted to marry him?" Draco asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I thought I loved him. It wasn't until he broke it off that I realized that I didn't actually love him. I loved the idea of him" she explained. Am I actually telling my life story to Draco Malfoy? And is he actually interested in what I have to say? This is too odd.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked, he was pleasantly surprised at the way the coffee was going. It couldn't have gone better if he had dreamt it himself.

"Well, I was in love with the idea of marriage. The idea of two people passionately in love; wanting to be with one another forever just felt right. The idea of a home, and children just made me feel like my life would be complete. But I guess it wasn't meant to be" she shrugged.

"Granger, don't worry about it. You have time" he said offhandedly.

Hermione just nodded. Why was she telling him everything? Was it necessary for him to know all of this stuff about her? In all honesty she had no one else to tell, so why not? "I know I have time, but I really wanted it"

"But if you had gone through with it, you wouldn't be happy with it. If there's no love, there's no point" he said simply.

"You're one to talk of love" Hermione said coolly. Where was he coming off pretending he was so knowledgeable about the subject? If he had ever been in love, I'd eat my foot.

"Never been in love myself, but I've seen what it is to not be in love, every day of my life for eighteen years, and then some. It's not pretty" he frowned thinking about his parents.

"This has been a productive caffeine break" Hermione said lightening the mood.

"Agreed. I think we should write a book on the subject. Your fact, my wits, it would be perfect" he grinned.

"I need to get home" Hermione said standing, Draco stood with her.

"Me too" he said simply grabbing his coat and following her out into the sweet May weather. The trees on the street were blooming and their sent was intoxicating. It was a beautiful day.

Hermione brushed a stray strand of hair to the back of her head, the wind blew softly. "Thanks for the coffee, I'll see you at work tomorrow and we can discuss dinner" she said formally.

"Thanks Granger" Draco said softly, "thanks for trying"

"Thank you for being the only damn person who has listened to me in the past month. As odd as it may seem it made me feel better" she admitted.

"I hope we can get along" he said dryly with a smirk.

Hermione's eyebrows flew up, "If you don't do anything stupid I'm sure we'll get along just fine. Bye" she said walking down the street.

"Bye" Draco waved to her walking to opposite way.

Five fifty-six. Coffee is over. Mine was black. His was feminine. I looked over my shoulder to see him. He kept walking away.

Draco looked over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of Granger just before she rounded the corner, he wondered if she looked back

too.

* * *

A/N: Please review, by chapter four the real plot will kick in. And it's going to be a mystery!!! 


	3. Nothing Dries Sooner Than Tears

**Chapter Three**

**Nothing Dries Sooner Than Tears**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter or related characters.

* * *

Hermione was playing with her paperweight on Thursday May 23rd at exactly three twenty-one. She rolled the glass ball along her desk letting it run over her papers like a tyrant monster destroying Tokyo. She pushed harder; it rolled across her large desk and fell to the ground. The glass ball bounced back up onto her desk and sat stationary.

She was glad she had cast that spell on it. After the third time breaking it, it had grown tiring repairing it. She sighed and looked at the clock. Only a minuet had passed. She was so bored and she wanted to go home. Technically she could; she had finished all of her assignments long ago.

But why was she here? Well, she was here because she hadn't run into Malfoy yet, and therefore they hadn't discussed dinner. She knew…yes she knew she could have just left and then caught him tomorrow, or she could have gone down the hall and found him. But she couldn't bring herself to do either. For some reason she wanted him to come to her. She was tired of waiting and chasing after others. She wished once in her life that someone would come after her.

It was bullshit, she was being a baby sitting here and waiting for him. She had waited on people before; it never worked out for her. She got up quickly grabbing her jacket and bag. She was going home to get some sleep. It would do her more good than sitting here.

Ginny was supposed to have come over today, but Ron and the whore were returning from Greece so she couldn't make it. They were planning a wedding. One month after he broke it off with her, he was marrying the bitch.

Hermione couldn't say much about it though; she had no idea for how long Ron had been seeing this woman behind her back. For all she knew, Ron and this person could have been in a relationship for three years or longer and she was just completely oblivious. It had been a waste of her life. Three years down the drain.

It hurt; the fact that nobody cared about her anymore. They were all smitten with this girl Ron had picked up on his tour and they all seemed to have forgotten about her. It was like they were under a spell.

Ginny never called anymore. She hadn't seen Harry in weeks, nor had she seen any of the other Weasley's. Except for when she ran into Mr. Weasley or Percy in the halls or lifts. And when she did, it was horribly awkward. Mr. Weasley could never look her in the face, and Percy would only assure her that Ron was having a lapse in judgment and he would come out of it.

She knew it wasn't a lapse in judgment; it was something that was a long time coming. She could have cared less whether Ron ever came out of it. She shut the door behind her and walked down to the lift. She was making herself angry, it was unnecessary.

She considered what Malfoy had said yesterday about being alone. Well, she was too. Granted she had her parents, but whenever she saw them they would only ask what had happened between her and Ron. They were disappointed that she had screwed it up. They had been excited about their only daughter marrying.

She banged roughly on the lift button. She wanted to cry now. No surprise, it was what she did every day. Cry and be pathetic. But she couldn't get over how things had changed so quickly. In a moment her life had been turned around…and no one stuck with her. Mrs. Weasley could have cared less. Ginny happened to like the bitch more. Even Harry thought she was so beautiful and talented. What had happened to her? Why was she so…undesirable now?

After everything she, Harry and Ron had gone through…their friendship seemed to mean nothing in the end.

The lift pinged. The door opened and she stepped in pressing the ground button. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes.

"Wait hold the lift!"

Hermione leaned forward and pressed the open button, she looked around the door to see who had called. Malfoy was running towards her. She cracked a smile.

He had seen her walking down the hall. His meeting had just finished, he thought he might have already missed her when her office was empty. He ran into the lift breathless, "hey Granger" he said with a smile.

"Hello" she said pressing the ground button again.

"Are you done for the day?" he asked casually.

"Yes I am" Hermione said with a sigh.

"Oh, I had a meeting all day. Sorry I couldn't get to your earlier. I thought I had just missed you, I was at your office and it was empty" he explained, his face pink and hair awry.

"It's okay, you could have just owled me" she said with a small smile.

"I could have, but I wanted to talk to you in person" he admitted.

"So talk, I have twenty-three more floors to go" Hermione said raising her eyebrows at him. She wondered what he would say.

"I wanted you to come to my ball tomorrow. I know its short notice and it's not in connection with the dinner, we can arrange that later. It's a charity ball for St. Mungo's. My family has been a donator for decades so I'm hosting this year. And I wanted you to come with me" he said quickly, his eyes checking the floors they passed.

"With you?" Hermione asked unsurely. What does he mean by that? Hermione glanced quickly at her watch. It was three thirty-three when Draco Malfoy asked her to go to his ball…with him.

"Well, yeah. Like a date of sorts. But not like that type of date because that would be weird, right? Unless you want to that is. But I was thinking like a friend date so we wouldn't have to go alone" he blurted out, mentally smacking himself for being so stupid. He waited anxiously for her answer.

Her lips were twitching what did that mean? Was that a yes? Or no? What if it was a no?

"When?" Hermione asked, "And where?"

"At seven, at Malfoy Manor. It is a formal event so I hope you have something to wear. If you don't I can arrange to have something bought for you. I would be happy to do it. It would only be fair; I mean its very short notice. And if you will be with me, I think we should attempt to match, or at least _go_ or somethingUnless you think I'm being pushy or creepy or something, in which case I will get off at the next floor and jump off of a balcony" he finished quickly. Now he was ready to cry. He was acting like an idiot. Where was his cool collected demeanor?

Hermione burst out into laughter. "Malfoy, take a breath. I'm sure I'll find something to wear; I'll go to Gladrags right now and find something. So please slow down before you have a heart attack"

Draco blushed furiously, "I'm sorry, I'm a little anxious" he said.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure the ball will go fine. If you planned it well that is, you must always have back-up plans for such events. But I'm sure you did fine" she rattled on not realizing that was not why he was really anxious.

The lift stopped and they got off. "Well, I'm going to go get my dress now, what are you wearing?" she asked wanting to make sure it was clear they were there together.

"A shade of Delicate Frost; on my tie of course" he amended "I'm sure the witches at Gladrags will know what you mean" he said clearing his throat.

"Alright, I will see you tomorrow at work, and I will be arriving promptly at seven to your ball" she said with a reassuring smile. "Goodbye" she said walking away; she wouldn't let herself look back.

"Bye" Draco said quietly. He couldn't believe he had acted like such an idiot. He needed to go and owl Gladrags right away and tell Prudence that he needed her to find matching dresses for Granger.

* * *

Hermione stopped by a café and got a coffee before heading to go get her dress. Today wasn't so bad after all. She had been invited to his event. This would be the first time she would be going anywhere really public since her issue with Ron. It would do her good to get out. And to show the whole damn world that she was just fine.

She could safely assume that Harry and Ron would be attending, be it for their own sakes, or because they _knew_ she wouldn't be there.

Hermione relished the idea of greeting them on Malfoy's arm. It would be wonderful to see the look on Ron's face.

* * *

Draco threw out the reply from Prudence, who claimed she was 'already on it'. He hadn't intended to initially invite Granger to the ball. He knew Weasley and Potter would be there, and he was worried about any problems that might arise. But the more he had thought about it, the better of an idea it seemed. It would give her the opportunity to show Weasley she was fine without him. As long as things went the way he hoped they would. He knew Hermione would never make a public scene; it was Weasley or Potter he was worried about.

He couldn't pretend he was only doing this for her though. He wanted to see the looks on their faces when they saw him and Hermione together. Regardless of the fact that they weren't even really friends yet. Pothead and weasel would surely fill in the blanks themselves. He sighed contently, and decided he felt up to finishing those cases today. Now that he knew things would go well.

* * *

"Hello?" Hermione said as she entered Gladrags.

"Over here Ms. Granger. I have dresses picked out for you already" a tall lanky older lady said walking out from behind a rack.

"Oh you do, huh" Hermione said crossing her arms. It was just like Malfoy to make sure everything was under his control. God forbid her shade of green didn't match his. "Alright, let's see these dresses" she sighed walking to the dressing room. There was no point fighting him. She could have showed up in a red dress, but why bother? "If Malfoy is picking out the dress, then he damn well better be paying for it too, that's all I have to say" she muttered to herself.

"No" Hermione said simply. She had only caught a glimpse of this dress and she knew it was all wrong. She was completely covered up, from her wrists to her ankles. "Do you have anything more…" she began unsurely.

"Sexy?" Prudence finished just as unsurely. "I do" she walked away back into the store to look for more dresses. Hermione pulled the current one off and placed it on a chair. She waited apprehensively in her slip. She wanted a really hot dress; for lack of a better description. If she was going to show up Ron and the other one, she couldn't do it looking like a nun.

Prudence came back with only one dress. "I wasn't going to show you this one, I didn't think it would be your type, but here you go" she said handing it to Hermione. It was a light mint green and the fabric was cool to the touch. Silky and soft, she pulled it on quickly. Prudence did the zipper up.

Hermione went in front of the mirror. It was beautiful, but it wasn't her at all. And she wanted it just because of that reason. It was strapless, obscenely tight and fell to her knees. She would never have chosen something like this in another circumstance. But she wanted it now.

"Are there shoes?" she asked Prudence, never taking her eyes off of herself.

"Just a moment" Prudence said going to grab them. She wasn't sure what Mr. Malfoy would think of this dress. It wasn't exactly what he had described to her. She hoped she didn't get in any trouble for it. She grabbed the green pumps and walked back to Hermione coolly. It would all be okay.

Hermione slipped on the shoes and looked herself over again. "I'll take it" she said happily.

"Oh my" Prudence sighed going to the register. She hoped that Mr. Malfoy was pleased with Ms. Granger's choice, because if he wasn't it would be her head on the block.

"There you go" Prudence said pushing the bag towards Hermione across the counter. "I haven't paid" Hermione laughed, old age was funny. Prudence must have forgotten or something.

"No, you haven't. Mr. Malfoy has" Prudence explained clearly.

Hermione groaned, "Oh, that insufferable prick, everything must be his way. I'm capable of paying for it myself" she muttered taking the bag. Prudence just smiled knowingly "Goodbye Ms. Granger, see you soon" she said.

Hermione was making her way out until she caught sight of the jewelry counter. Particularly a pair of beautiful cufflinks. She stopped and walked over to the glass display; if he bought her the dress and shoes she would buy him the emerald cufflinks. It seemed wrong of her to take such a gift when they didn't really know each other, or have a gift-giving relationship. She had to pay him back somehow.

"Prudence, I want those links please, and can we have them owled to Mr. Malfoy right away?" Hermione asked turning to look for her.

Prudence groaned at the counter, placing her head in her hands. She was too old for these things. "Of course Ms. Granger" she smiled sweetly walking towards her.

Hermione had not seen Malfoy all Friday. His assistant said that he was too busy preparing for the ball, but she could give him a message if Hermione wanted her to. Hermione declined and thanked the girl. She decided to go home and get ready; she had three hours to make sure she was ready to make Ron wish he had never been born.

* * *

Draco finished his letter and sent it away with owl to Granger's house. Apologizing for not being able to see her today due to his busy schedule, but he asked her to arrive ten minuets earlier. Her also thanked her greatly for the lovely cufflinks he had received much to his surprise last night. He couldn't believe she had bought him something. But he knew Granger would not take anything from him, at least not yet.

He felt very nervous. This whole friendship thing was scary. He had never really had friends. He wondered if he had taken the whole dress thing too far. She had said she would do it on her own and yet again he had felt the need to do it for her. He was used to working that way; he had always assumed that women loved presents and surprises like that. He knew Granger wasn't one of those women, but it was a default of his; he couldn't help it.

He wondered what actual friendship was. He had never felt such a thing. All men were for power connections, and all women were only for a greater bodily end, not for friendliness. Even back in school, this was the system he operated on.

Even though he wasn't attracted to Granger, the mere fact that she was a woman turned on the switch in his brain. It made him want to have her, simply a conquest. It was taking a resistance he wasn't aware he had to keep that desire in check.

He would have to tone down the gifts and wooing if he planned to have her as a friend. She wasn't the type. He knew it would take more to get her to like him than a free dress and a nice dinner. He would have to prove himself to her just like he proved himself to the order. And that was a task that would surely take more than he had ever given. Friend, friend, friend, a word that he had never tasted on his tongue. But the sound of it was delicious.

* * *

Hermione was finally ready. Ginny had owled her to apologize for ditching yesterday and asked her what she was doing tonight, if she wanted to join her and Harry for dinner. Hermione hadn't replied; she didn't want Ginny to know what was happening with her. Ginny could find out from Ron later that night, as it seemed she and Harry were not attending the ball.

She had decided if they were going to distance themselves from her she wouldn't try to pull them back. She had her own life to keep living. If she was interested in having that perfect life, then she needed to get a move on. Maybe tonight Malfoy would introduce her to some attractive bachelors. It was a nice thought, but somehow she knew she would manage to ruin it all the same.

It was eleven to the hour, she decided now would be a good time to leave, that way she would arrive right on time. She decided to apparate rather than use the floo. She didn't need soot on her new dress. She grabbed her clutch purse and shawl; she was ready, in all ways for tonight.

* * *

Draco waited nervously by the apparition point in his foyer for Granger. At exactly ten to the hour he heard a pop and she was before him. "Hello" she smiled shyly looking around her.

"Uh…" was all he managed to get out. That was definitely not the type of dress he had described to Prudence. It was amazing, much better than what he had told her to find. He had never imagined Granger to wear such a thing. It bared her shoulder and back, it was extremely tight but she seemed to be comfortable in it. And it was the exact shade of green as his tie. "You look great" he finally got out extending his arm to her.

"Thank you" Hermione said smiling, so the dress had its expected effect. Good, she was set for tonight then. She took his arm and glanced down his wrist. "Glad to see you are wearing my gift" she said lightly catching the green glean on his crisp white sleeve.

"You needn't have bought me the links, although they are beautiful, and they look terribly expensive" he said with a sigh.

"You needn't have bought me the dress and shoes and purse and shawl" Hermione listed off with a smile "which was all together probably far more expensive than my gift to you".

"True, let's just leave it there and call it even. These gifts will signify our growing friendship" he said with a laugh. Granger was always a step ahead of him.

"Alright, I accept that" she said smiling.

He led her into his great room. "Wow" was all she managed to get out "this room is giant" she whispered looking around.

"This is where many parties have been hosted" he boasted puffing out his chest. There went that inflated ego of his again. There was no point putting a leash on it, it would always find opportunity to bite.

"It's really nice Malfoy" Hermione said honestly. The whole room was cloaked in that same theme of rich purples and gold. There were white net hangings canopying from the ceiling. Small lights twinkled everywhere.

"They hold this ball every year for the Mungo's staff and donators. We usually have prizes and awards to give away every year. And people also compete for prizes by donating" he explained leading her around the hall. He watched her restlessly but the expression on her face softened his unease. She looked pleased.

"What are the prizes this year?" she asked still in awe of her surroundings.

"Everything from the new Firebolt, to vacations, to free dinners and shopping spree's. All donated by some of the hospitals contributors" he explained.

"That's nice" Hermione said absent mindedly turning on the spot to take it all in. Trees covered in soft white lights were lining all of the walls. It was truly enchanting.

"It's really beautiful in here, I wish I could have come up with something like this" Hermione complimented.

Draco blushed, "Well, I didn't do it alone. I had a whole staff helping me" he admitted scratching his head awkwardly; complements were different if you knew the person meant them. He pointed out the large number of people still milling about the hall doing last minuet details.

"But it was your vision" Hermione reminded him. She didn't need him playing humble and coy tonight, she knew him well enough to know it didn't suit him.

"Yeah, you're right. No I did it all by myself. Am I not magnificent? Please bow down now" he said haughtily. Hermione laughed and smacked him lightly on the arm.

Draco blushed again. Keep the monster down; he reminded himself. She is going to be your friend, remember it's Granger. You're not _actually_ attracted to her; it's your penis talking, not your head.

"The guests will be arriving soon, come greet them with me?" he said pulling her back to the foyer.

"What if I don't know them?" Hermione asked worriedly. An awkward situation was something she didn't exactly need at the moment.

He frowned at her, was she really that dim? "Then introduce yourself to them" he said as though it was the stupidest question he had ever heard.

"Right" Hermione mumbled looking at the clock. It was one to seven, in a minuet people would begin to arrive.

* * *

"Hello and welcome" Hermione said extending her hand to an older gentleman she had recognized as Mr. Furerly, designer of the Firebolt series. She had seen him in the paper.

He took her hand and kissed it, "Ah, Miss Granger. Please to meet you in person finally. You are escorting Mr. Malfoy tonight?" he asked as he let go of her hand and looking between her and Malfoy with something like interest across his face.

Hermione laughed, "Sure, that's one way to put it".

"Malfoy" Furerly said shaking hands with him.

"Thank you so much for your donation, I know it's a brand new prototype and I think it will help the hospital earn enough money for the new wing" Draco said as though it was practiced and scripted. But not without true gratitude; which startled Hermione.

"Not a problem my dear boy, if it wasn't for the missus, you wouldn't have it. It's her you should be thanking and her persuasiveness" he smiled, then he leaned in closer to Draco, "She threatened to not let me eat for a month if I didn't give up the new one". Draco laughed.

"Mrs. Furerly" Draco said taking the older lady's hand and kissing it.

Mrs. Furerly blushed crimson, "oh Draco, don't be so charming" she laughed relishing the only flirting she ever received any more.

They moved along and a new throng of people apparated into the foyer. "How many people are invited exactly?" Hermione asked leaning towards Malfoy.

"Around three hundred" he said casually. Hermione groaned in disbelief. "Don't worry, it's almost eight, we're near done anyway. You'd be surprised how many people we've already gone through" he assured her.

Potter and Weasley hadn't shown, he wasn't exactly sure if Potter was attending but Weasley had reserved a table, so he had to arrive soon. Or late for that matter, he hardly expected Weasley to be the type to be on time.

He was worried about the confrontation again. He smiled at Granger reassuring her and squeezed her bare shoulder. "Don't worry, it'll be over soon and we'll all have dinner. Steak, yum!" he said with a big smile. Hermione chortled at his expression, "Yum" she repeated.

A set of loud cracks and Hermione caught that familiar glimpse of red hair first, along with some blonde. She sucked in a deep breath of air.

They were here, damn Weasley. Now or never was the phrase. Draco wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulders and whispered in her ear "Don't worry about him, you are here with me. If you don't want to deal with him just say so and I'll figure something out"

Hermione smiled up at him amiably, "Thank you very much Malfoy, but I think it's a 'now or never' moment" she said reading his mind. He nodded; he knew she wouldn't back down. It wasn't suited to her style.

That was how Ronald Weasley and Bianca Lee found them, gazing up at one another with an odd sense of understanding.

Hermione fixed her face and turned to face them. Ron was gaping at her and Malfoy in disbelief; he had stopped two meters short of them. The girl tugged at his arm.

Ron marched over pulling the blonde roughly behind him; Hermione could only assume this was who he had left her for. She wouldn't deny the woman was beautiful. In a long slinky black dress she looked as though she had walked off a damn catwalk. But she was all around typical, there seemed to be little about her in intelligence or wit. Just a lot of fake blond hair and hazel eyes, was she just being a bitch and prejudiced? No, she could sense the dimness. The foyer itself had just gone a little darker with their arrival.

"Ronald!" Hermione said happily extending her hand to Ron. He looked at her hand with disdain, as though it was something dirty and diseased; naturally he didn't take it. So she directed it towards the woman.

"I'm Hermione Granger, and you are?" she asked politely trying her hardest to keep her temper in check. Draco watched the exchange in fascination, Granger was something else. She was an amazing actress.

"I'm Bianca Lee, Ronald's fiancée" she said demurely shaking Hermione's hand. Hermione noted the giant rock on her other hand. Her ring was not that big. It was small and simple, back when Ron had not been as rich or as famous. Was that why he left her? Was she not enough of a star to stand next to him?

"Ahh, well then you and I have something in common" Hermione said with a small knowing smile.

Ron was turning and ugly shade of red. He didn't need this now; last thing he wanted was for the truth to get out and all hell to break loose.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked curtly giving Hermione a nasty look.

"She's attending _my_ ball at _my_ request. She is _my_ lovely escort tonight. How are you Weasley?" Draco said saving her and throwing out his own hand to Ron. He had made sure to emphasize every 'my' carefully. Weasley wasn't going to be the winner this time around.

Bianca looked a little confused. But that just could have been her natural state. She seemed like the girl who was always confused.

Ron had no other choice but to take Malfoy's hand and shake it. He couldn't insult the host; it wouldn't look good for him. "So you two are together?" Ron asked gritting his teeth.

"No, we're just here as friends" Hermione smiled at Draco, he smiled back at her. He was enjoying this little game just as much as she was. Ron didn't feel comforted by that answer at all, he needed to recover quickly.

"Malfoy have you met my fiancée?" Ron asked, but his question was pointed at Hermione. He wanted to upset her. How dare she show up her with Malfoy like some…hussy? She was doing it to spite him, she had to be. He couldn't believe that she would go to Malfoy after he had left her.

Draco laughed softly and pulled Hermione closer to him protectively, "I know Bianca; we met at Stavros' Christmas party last year".

Bianca nodded in agreement, she remembered too "of course Mr. Malfoy, you were England's most sought after bachelor then, but it seems you are taken now" she said directing the comment to Hermione.

"To be honest Weasley I preferred your old fiancé, in fact I still do" Draco said with a smirk giving Hermione a little squeeze.

Ron looked about ready to burst. "What old fiancée? Ronald?" Bianca asked in confusion, she blinked a few times and waited for his answer. "When were you engaged before?" she repeated. Bianca pulled away from Ron to look at him better. Her hands flew to her hips in predatory female form, her pretty little face turned ugly.

Hermione decided this would be a good time to step in, "I was engaged to Ronald a month ago, but he met you and broke it off with me" Hermione said all of this with a good natured grin. She was enjoying herself too much. If Ronald would leave her broken, she wouldn't just let him get away with it so easily.

Bianca looked from Ron to Hermione. "What? That can't possibly be" she asked in confusion shaking her head. Something didn't seem right about the whole situation "is this true Ronald?"

"No! Of course it's not true!" Ron said unsurely. He was glaring at Hermione, daring her to challenge him, but pleading with her to not do it at the same time. Hermione considered letting him go, and for a moment she almost did. But that nasty desire for vengeance in her wasn't going to let it go.

"Ronald, don't be silly, we were engaged for three years" Hermione laughed moving even closer to Draco and wrapping her arm around him. She felt as though Ron might lunge at her and she was grateful for Malfoy's manly presence.

"But we've been dating for two years" Bianca said shaking her head "Is this some kind of sick joke?" she asked Hermione accusingly pointing her finger "I did not come here to be mocked Malfoy!"

Hermione was unable to answer. It was six to eight and her world had crashed around her yet again. Two years…was that true? Had he been cheating on her for two years? How could she have not known? No, Bianca must have been confused…

Ron was becoming pale very quickly. It was out all of it. In a few mere minuets it seemed that he was now done for.

"Two years Ron?" Hermione asked quietly. She could feel her heart beat loudly, her vision blurred by another onslaught of tears. "You've been lying to me for two years. Planning _our_ wedding for two years, with me? Sleeping next to me and with me for two years? Telling me you loved me for two goddamn years while you've been with her?" Hermione screamed loosing all sense. She let go of Malfoy and ripped herself from his grasp. She pulled her wand out of her dress and advanced on Ron. She pointed it right at his neck ominously. She jabbed him once for good measure.

"Give me one reason Ron, just one why I shouldn't kill you right now" she whispered tearfully "And make it good, because I'm so pissed right now, so pissed". This was beyond anger, she was seeing red, she was actually prepared to kill him.

"Hermione" Draco whispered softly in her ear as he pulled back her arm.

She resisted him. "Let me kill him Malfoy, please" she asked.

"You know that wouldn't look good on your resume" he replied still keeping his hand on top of her arm.

She knew Malfoy was right; she couldn't cause a scene here. She let her wand arm drop to her side but she continued to glare angrily at Ron.

"Leave please, both of you. You are no longer invited Weasley. I suggest you go tell your _fiancée_ what is actually going on" Draco said coolly.

"Goodbye Draco, Hermione" Bianca said coolly before apparating away sharply leaving the three of them alone in the foyer.

"I hope you're happy!" Ron yelled at Hermione advancing on her menacingly. He couldn't believe she would do such a thing. It wasn't like her at all, and it pissed him off. And where did she come off coming here with Malfoy. And the dress she was wearing. It almost made him regret leaving her. She had never worn anything like than when she was with him, it left little to the imagination… and here she was with Malfoy, she was his whore. She was so lost without him that she had run to the one person's bed who wouldn't ask questions.

"Oh I am so happy" she yelled back moving towards him. He wanted a fight; she would give it to him, no matter where they were. She was thankful that the music in the hall was loud enough to cover their voices.

"Weasley leave _now_" Draco repeated firmly. He didn't need to have physical injuries as well as the emotional ones that were already occurring at the moment.

Ron gave him a dirty look. "Hermione, it isn't over" he seethed.

"Oh, I'm so scared shit-weasel, what are you doing to do? Ask me to marry you and then leave me? AGAIN!" she said screamed mockingly. Ron spat at her and walked away, disappearing with a crack.

"Good thing he missed" Hermione said softly staring at the spit on the floor. She stood quietly for a moment, collecting herself. "I'm sorry" she apologized to Malfoy, but she remained with her back to him. She was scared to look at him. She felt like such an idiot. She felt so lost, cheated and betrayed.

Draco stood awkwardly behind Granger. He didn't know what to say to her. This had not gone how he had imagined it at all.

Hermione turned to face him with a teary smile. "Can we go to dinner please?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure the latecomers can get around themselves, come on" he said taking her hand and leading her to the hall.

* * *

The rest of the evening passed without a hitch. Dinner went smoothly and for a few moments Malfoy would be able to make her forget about what happened earlier. But it would always invade her thoughts when she was unsuspecting.

Part of her cried that she shouldn't care anyway, it was over so what difference did something like that make? What did the information mean to her when Ron had already left her? Her other half was enraged though, how could he have done that for two years the sick bastard?

It sickened her to think she had lived with him those two years he had been with another, and for one of those two she had been so happy with him. She had loved him fully; she had shared her life with him. Her mind, her emotions, even her bed she had shared with him. And he had been screwing someone else every time he left. So that last year, at least she now knew where he had been. She thought about when he had proposed to her after they had finished Voldemort. He had given her that simple gold ring with a small diamond that had come from his hard earned money. Where had that love gone? Where had the devotion gone? Could it have just died?

This whole last year, when he had never come home. When he couldn't touch her at all. He had been with Bianca. Who seemed to be just as clueless as Hermione. To Bianca; Hermione was the other woman. She and Bianca had been cheated out of something real. She knew there would be no wedding for them after this. And part of her was pleased she had hurt Ron, pleased she had ruined a part of his life. But she felt guilty for Bianca; even though she knew she shouldn't have felt that way…it was just the female heart in her that felt for the girl. She was hurt too.

"Dance with me" Malfoy whispered in her ear. Hermione nodded standing and allowing him to lead her to the floor. She needed to snap out of it. She was here to make friends and get over the whole business. Not to dwell on it and tear her hair out about it. It didn't matter anymore. She had met some nice people during dinner and some nice men too. It wasn't so bad. Things were okay. A few names learnt, she was asked to dinner by a very nice man named Paisley Briar who was a mediwizard. He had asked if he could owl her for dinner. She had told him yes.

"Don't worry" Malfoy said as he wrapped an arm around her waist and held her hand lightly in his "Things always work out in the end".

"You say that a lot" Hermione frowned placing her other hand on his back gently.

"That's because I believe it. Do you?" He asked with a small smile. He felt so horrible about the whole situation; he hadn't wanted to hurt Granger, because now she was wrapped up in some little world of her own. He wasn't going to get anywhere with her tonight.

"I don't know if I believe it" she whispered sadly.

"Well, I believe that you wanted to be my friend, and that here is some fate there that we will see eventually. I had never expected you to come to coffee with me yesterday. Or to be dancing with me right now for that matter. Which, if it's weird for you we can totally stop! If you think this friendship thing is going to fast or you're unsure you even want to be friends with me, because sometimes even I'm not sure if I want to be nice to me, or…" he rattled on nervously.

"Malfoy, shut-up" Hermione said with a laugh "I'm fine with dancing with you and being your friend, but it's the degree of friendship that's going to take time. But as far as I'm concerned you're my best friend right now" she muttered bitterly, "You stuck up for me back there"

"If I hadn't, who would have?" he asked with a smile. He was secretly very pleased with what she had said. It made him feel better about the whole night.

"Exactly. Who would have? Nobody, that's who, I'm starting over again. And maybe, just maybe there is something good to come out of this. I need some new contacts, to meet new people" Hermione said.

"I'm not exactly new" he grinned.

"You practically are, I feel like I'm getting to know someone new. Maybe because you've changed" she explained.

They drifted between others; gliding across the floor seamlessly. "And I'm really sorry about the fighting. I didn't mean to get so out of control" she said sheepishly keeping her eyes on his chest. She tried to count the threads on his dress robe.

"Can't blame you, I think you handled it very well considering. And if you believe what you just said right now about the whole 'something good', then I'm sure it will happen. What is that 'something good', if I may ask?" he said pulling her closer than the waltz required so that the people around them wouldn't listen in.

"I'm not sure, but I feel like I'm in some alternate universe. Because I don't know what made me say yes to coffee or to come here. You know as well asI do, that it wasn't something of my normal character to agree to be friendly with you. Something made me say yes, and whatever it was knows best. For some reason I feel like I have nothing to lose, even if you have ulterior motives, or you hurt me in the end. I feel like I can't be sitting and waiting forever for someone to come to me. You are the first person who has extended a hand of understanding to me after everything that happened" she explained sadly.

"I assure you I have no ulterior motives. You are already aware of my motives for extending my friendship, and I think we are both clear on the contract" he said seriously. He didn't want her to think he wanted anything from her but some kindness.

"I know" Hermione said quietly, "You're much nicer than you were back in school" she said attempting to change the topic.

"Like I said before, in school we were only reflections of what we knew and saw everyday. I was the way I was because I was being raised to be as such by my parents. Bred to be a deatheater. Even if I had wanted to, I could never have befriended you or Potter. It would only have gotten me in trouble with my father. And you, you were always surrounded by your books; they were what you knew and could depend on. In a way, books would never betray you. Potter was always in turmoil, it was what made him comfortable. Longbottom was stupid. Now he's an amazing herbal potion brewer. People change, its natural" he said lightly twirling her under his arm.

"You are much smarter than people give you credit for, such insight I have never heard" Hermione laughed.

"You mean, smarter then _you_ give me credit for" he corrected her. Hermione blushed deeply, it was true. She had never thought him very smart, even though his grades had rivaled hers to the end of sixth year. The music stopped suddenly and everybody looked to the stage.

Mr. Winter was standing there holding the microphone, "If everyone could please take their seats, we will now award the prizes" he said with a giant smile. Everyone scuffled back to their seats quickly; eager to see if they had won. Draco led Hermione back to their table slowly. Hermione could feel people watching her.

* * *

She watched all of the guests leave, all of them slapping Malfoy's back and telling him how wonderful the event was, mostly the ones who had won. "You don't seem that lonely" Hermione said leaning against his giant fireplace in the foyer as the last of the guests left.

"They're only my business associates. They are not my friends, currently my friend count is one" he said with a sad smile.

"Hey, better than none" Hermione warned walking over to him. "Thank you for being so nice to me tonight Malfoy, you are doing very well at not screwing up this companionship thing" she said with a wry smile.

"In that case I will try to be nice to you everyday, but you must allow me a snide remark once in a while" he said with a raised brow and wolfish grin.

"I would expect nothing less" Hermione said rolling her eyes.

"Well, I have to look over clean-up, and I wouldn't want to bore you with it. And I'm sure you wouldn't want to see my house elves, I know how much that upsets you. So goodnight to you Miss Granger" he said with a deep sweeping bow.

"Alright, alright, you're kicking me out. I get it" Hermione said in mock hurt. She pulled her wand out of her purse, "I'll hear from you soon, we might have to scratch dinner this weekend, my parents will be visiting, and it seems I have a real date. But if nothing else I'll see you on Monday. Have a nice weekend Malfoy" she said walking over to him and kissing him on the cheek. With a small wave she apparated back home.

* * *

Draco sighed deeply. Not so bad. It's been worse. He liked her very much tonight; she was angry, exposed and funny all at once. He tried to recall the scene when she had her wand jabbed in weasel's throat. It was a beautiful moment, he wouldn't forget it. Never.

* * *

Hermione looked at the clock on her wall, it was nearing twelve. At six fifty she had gone to Malfoy's; at seven forty-nine she had battle with Ron. And, at nine thirty, she had known Malfoy was genuine in his request for her friendship. And just a minuet ago she had kissed his cheek. Why? She didn't know.

Hermione threw down her bag and wand on the couch and went to the kitchen to get a drink.

It was while she was pouring water into her glass that she remembered her shawl. Her shawl; which was still hung over the back of her chair in Malfoy's hall.

* * *

Ninny handed him a deep silver shawl which he recognized as Grangers. She had forgotten it; at least he had a reason to contact her this weekend. He folded it carefully into a square and headed upstairs to get some rest and think over the evening. Especially why Granger's date this weekend was bothering him.

* * *

**A/N:** Please read and review. I decided to lump two chapters together rather than post two boring ones. So, the next chapter is where the story actually kicks in, teheheh... 


	4. If It Makes You Less Sad

**Chapter Four**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or related characters.

* * *

Hermione laughed so loudly she startled most of the restaurant. Paisley Briar just smiled at the odd witch that sat across from him. Hermione cleared her throat self-consciously realizing people were now staring at her. She was ready to melt into the floor with embarrassment.

"Sorry" she whispered to Paisley staring at her plate.

"Sorry, for what?" he asked with a lopsided frown.

Hermione smiled at him, he was very nice. And very attractive, dirty blond hair, green eyes, tall…the list went on and on. But most importantly he had no preconceived notions about her. They had met at Malfoy's party and Paisley had asked her to dinner Saturday night. So here she was sitting with him and recounting tales of youth. "For being so loud" Hermione said with a blush.

"Hey, you're only trying to impress me here, don't worry about the other people. And I for one like a loud laugh, it's refreshing" he grinned wickedly. Hermione almost slid out of her chair with giddiness.

Hermione blushed again, "Thank you Paisley" she said courteously with a slight nod.

He gave her a nod in return and raised his glass to a drink. Hermione followed his lead.

* * *

Draco sighed softly and nodded, he wasn't actually listening to Parkinson. But he was putting on a good act. She continued to rattle on about her wedding plans with Danker, the Rockets chaser. He had only agreed to dinner with her because he had nothing better to do on a Saturday night. Granger was busy and he didn't want to be annoying and hound her. 

"And you will be one of the groomsmen" Pansy concluded happily. She sighed dreamily and fixed her eyes on Draco, her gaze slowly turned into a glare. "Draco? Are you even listening to me?" she asked angrily.

"Blue and white, lilies, Vera Wang gown, huge reception, I'm one of groomsmen" he recapped shortly. Pansy was unimpressed; she frowned at him taking in his whole person. His hair was all over the place, his fingers were tapping on the table anxiously and he hadn't even touched his wine. Something was amiss.

"What's on your mind Malfoy?" she asked curtly folding her arms.

Draco looked up in surprise, Parkinson wasn't usually so observational. He shrugged, "Nothing, I'm fine"

"Right" Pansy said in an unconvinced tone. "You can pull that crap over everyone else but not me, I've known you since before we could walk. Something is bugging you out" she sighed.

It was true; the whole Weasley/Granger blowout was on his mind. He wondered how she was doing. If she was handling the situation well. All these thoughts harassed his mind.

"Oh god!" Pansy gasped suddenly smacking his hand roughly.

"What?" Draco asked tiredly pulling his sore hand away.

"It's Granger! With Paisley Briar. He is so cute" she sighed vaguely.

"Pansy, you are engaged, and they are on a date" Draco said perking up immediately and trying to see what Pansy was seeing. He caught sight of them near the terrace window. Granger looked brilliant. She was laughing and smiling, and doing it all in a risky little black number. It seemed his worrying about her health was unnecessary.

"A girl can look" Pansy smiled taking a sip of her wine.

"I wish boys could do the same" Draco sighed returning his gaze to Pansy, only to receive an odd raised eyebrow and a familiar smirk.

* * *

"Thank you for dinner. It was lovely" Hermione said quietly as she and Paisley stood outside of her apartment door. She grinned again and bounced on the balls of her feet, unsure of what to do. It had been four years since her last real date. Should she kiss him? Was it too soon? She wanted to kiss him hard, just because she was so glad that he had asked her out. She was just excited. 

"I'll call you about next weekend" Paisley said chuckling at the apprehensive Hermione. He bent down and kissed her cheek gently, "Owl me when you can" he added with a wink as he began to walk away. Hermione watched him avidly until he was all the way down the stairs.

"Yeah" Hermione breathed out after he disappeared; touching her cheek softly. She quickly stepped inside and did a little dance. _Take that __Ron_ she thought angrily as she threw down her purse onto the couch. She went into the bathroom, energized for the first time in a long time.

* * *

Sunday passed quietly and slowly for bother Hermione and Draco. Hermione spent the day with her parents, while Draco spent the day listening to Blaise talk about the new girl he was shagging. 

Tired and beaten from nothing at all, Draco arrived home on Sunday evening and promptly fell into bed. He couldn't even think anymore, his brain had decided it needed a vacation. But his brain didn't control the unease in his chest. Seeing Granger and Briar last night arose some odd sensations in him. He wasn't sure what he felt, it wasn't jealously, it was more like guilt. Guilt because he had never given Granger a chance before, in school that was. It was only know that he could see how great it must have been to have her as a friend. So maybe he was a little jealous, but not of Briar. Maybe he was a little envious of the weasel and Potter. Or spiteful of anyone who had a real friend; and now that Granger was his _friend_he wanted her to himself. She should only be his friend. No one else's.

* * *

Hermione on the other hand, spent five hours cleaning and getting her papers organized before turning in at two. She decided this would make her Monday easier, this way she wouldn't have to roam through a dump load of files in the morning. She felt good overall, her date last night had gone wonderfully, and she had had something to brag about to her mother today, who looked ecstatic that her daughter had moved on so quickly. She knew if her mother could, she probably would have strangled Ron with her bare hands and probably Mrs. Weasley too. Her mother could not believe that Mrs. Weasley was okay with her son's betrayal. But Mrs. Granger didn't know that the Weasley's were in the dark. Probably not anymore, but nonetheless, it didn't change the attitude they had had before.

* * *

Draco glanced at Hermione's shawl which was hanging over the back of his chair in his bedroom. When it caught the light from his candles it would send little orbs of light around his room like a disco ball. He reminded himself to put it in his briefcase in the morning to return it to her. He picked it up momentarily and pulled it between his fingers, admiring the soft silkiness of it. He then folded it up and placed it on the chair back again.

* * *

At four thirteen in the morning Hermione's apparition charm went off. The loud buzzing noise was shaking her head ferociously. Hermione contemplated remaining in her bed, but she knew she was the only witch in the complex; whoever had apparated into the building was here for her. She groaned loudly and threw her pillow off the bed; she still had an hour and a half to sleep before her work alarm went off. She had only slept two hours; whoever was here was going to receive an earful for calling at such a stupid time. What the hell could it be? If she was called in to deal with another cursed spoon she would go ballistic. 

She slumped out of her bed and ran to the bathroom to empty her bladder and wash her face. The second she exited the bathroom her door buzzer went off; startling her and waking her fully. She frowned at the door, grabbing her wand on the bedside table she went to answer whoever was calling. She looked through the peephole and was troubled to see the dark eyes of Kingsley Shacklebolt staring back at her.

* * *

Draco groaned loudly as his elf Winkles attempted to get him out of bed. 

"Master must wake up! You have guests!" the elf cried angrily pulling at Draco's feet.

"Fine!" he yelled pushing the elf away and jumping out of bed. "What time is it?" he asked tiredly, he didn't feel like he slept eight hours at all.

"It's four-twenty master" the elf said going about and fixing his bed.

"In the morning? Who the hell is calling?" Draco mumbled heading to the bathroom. Whoever it was, they were going to get an earful about calling at inappropriate times.

"Work" Winkles said happily now arranging Draco's pillows, his head flew around the side of the door, his toothbrush hanging loosely from him lips.

"What?" he asked in shock spraying toothpaste everywhere.

"Master Shacklebolt is here to talk with you" the elf said clearly laying out his clothing on the now neatly made bed.

Draco frowned and went back to brushing his teeth agitatedly. What could have been going on for Shacklebolt to be here at this time? Now he was shaken thoroughly.

* * *

Hermione nervously tapped her foot on the cold stone floors of Malfoy's sitting room. She was in her pajamas and utterly confused. Kingsley would not tell her anything, he had simply asked her if she had her wand and was ready to leave. Before Hermione had been able to answer Kingsley had seen her wand in her hand and grabbed her pulling her out into the hall where he apparated them to Malfoy's. 

Now Hermione was sitting on the blue couch freezing. There was a fire blazing in the fireplace but she was cold. While Kingsley was in his clothing and a cloak, she was in a tank top and male boxers. She sighed and frowned at the pacing Kingsley. "Anything to say to me?" she asked angrily.

"We must wait for Mr. Malfoy to arrive and then I will explain what is occurring" he said shortly avoiding looking at her.

"Auror duty?" Hermione asked sullenly, "Or Order duty?"

Kingsley frowned at her, "For one of you, for the other…well" he then went silent and continued to pace the short stretch of rug in front of her. He wasn't making much sense, what did he mean?

"Would Miss like a sweater?" a female elf asked Hermione.

"If you could please" Hermione shivered rubbing her bare arms. It was freezing in Malfoy's home. The elf returned with a dark blue sweater which Hermione assumed was Malfoy's but she pulled it on anyway. She looked ridiculous, wearing Malfoy's sweater, boxers and some slip on Keds. She was sure when Malfoy came down he would be wondrously put together.

As the thought crossed her mind Malfoy rounded the corner and walked into the living room. He was dressed in a collared shirt, jeans, and sneakers, at least he looked awake. It took Draco a moment to see Hermione but the look on his face was utter shock when it sunk in.

"Uhh" he stuttered unsurely. Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

Kingsley pointed at the spot on the sofa next to Hermione. Draco obediently sat; things were getting more interesting by the second. "I see you've raided my closet Granger" he smiled bumping her with his shoulder. He was unsure of what mood he should be in.

"Only the sweater is yours" she frowned not realizing he was joking.

"Right. There's a bit of a situation" Kingsley began unsurely interrupting their greeting.

Hermione looked at him skeptically "Really? I thought we were here to have a heart to heart" Hermione said angrily.

Both Draco and Kingsley glared at her, she mutter a few profanities under her breath and allowed him to continue.

"There's been a murder" he said simply, "And all you need to know right now is that your life is in danger Hermione, so I have brought you to Malfoy's for the moment being. His home has many protective charms and spells set centuries ago which should keep you safe for the time being. I'll assume since you work together you are on good terms. And that is all I can say for now, I will return for you both at eight in the morning" he concluded shortly. He looked anxious to leave.

"What?" Hermione asked angrily standing and marching over to Kingsley; she poked him roughly in the chest "Is that all? Have you nothing more to say to me? If my life is in danger and I would like to know why. If you won't tell me as the Minister, tell me as a friend"

"You will know, but unfortunately I'm needed elsewhere right now" Kingsley said sadly, "I will see you in a few hours Hermione. Take care"

Draco stood to follow Kingsley out, "Not a problem Mr. Malfoy, I can show myself out. All I ask is that you keep Ms. Granger here and safe for the moment being"

Draco nodded and sat back down next to Hermione watching Kingsley leave. "Well" he said awkwardly looking to Hermione.

Hermione shrugged, "Somebody was killed, and by some association that means that my life is now in danger as well. It all depends on who was murdered, but I've only had two hours of sleep, so I can't really function. But I'll assume it was someone in the order, otherwise what connection would there be…" she said nervously. "I hope it wasn't family" she added frantically, thinking she had just seen her parents hours ago.

Draco shook his head, "If it was a muggle this would not be happening, he's protecting you from a wizard if he's placing you here in my home. Someone magical was murdered. Especially if Kingsley himself is involved" he assured her; sadly realizing that did little to calm him or her.

"I have no idea what's going on. I'm so lost and confused. I'm starting to panic I think" she said quickly turning to Draco. Indeed her breathing was becoming erratic.

"No! Don't panic! Its okay!" he said awkwardly, he was no good in a situation with distressed women. "Please start breathing normally" he pleaded grabbing her shoulders.

Hermione began to take deep shaky breaths in through her mouth; her eyes were frenetically jumping about. After a few minuets she regained control of herself and now she just looked pathetic. It was Draco's turn to panic.

"I'm also so tired" she yawned unable to keep it in.

"Do you want to sleep, because I plan on going back to bed" he said uncomfortably trying to keep all panicking to a minimum.

"If I could please" Hermione said quietly, she was scared, she felt utterly helpless, and it was not a feeling Hermione Granger had experienced frequently.

"I'll have a guest room set up for you" Draco sighed; standing up and reaching out a hand to her.

"Oh no. Please no. I have a horrible feeling I would get disastrously lost, something on the ground floor, or close to a staircase would be nice, near the kitchens? I don't feel like sleeping in an obscure wing of your manor knowing that my life is now in danger" Hermione said quietly grabbing his hand and pulling herself up. She clutched his fingers tightly.

"Okay, my room it is" he frowned. "Granger, release" he said shaking his blood deprived hand. Hermione let go quickly in discomfiture. "I'll give you the bed and I'll stick a cot up there for me, is that okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm just really worried and paranoid right now" she groaned covering her face.

"Understandable, I wouldn't want to be alone with that kind of information hanging over my head" Draco said seriously taking her hand again and leading her upstairs.

"Winkles!" Draco called; the elf appeared in front of him. "Could you set up another bed in my room?" he asked tiredly.

"Erg…what other bed sir?" the elf asked nervously, shifting on it's feet.

"A cot? A sleeping bag? Anything" Draco offered.

"Maybe" the elf said unsurely "I will go check for such things" then Winkles popped out of sight.

"Come on" Draco said leading Granger up the stairs to his room. He could feel her hand shaking in his; it was all finally setting in. Things were not all well. And having no information was doing little to calm either's nerves. He knew there would be little sleep tonight. He opened the door to his room and let her enter.

"My shawl!" Hermione said walking to his chair.

"Yeah, I was going to return it today, you had forgotten it on Friday. One of my elves found it" he explained.

"Yeah" Hermione sighed, pursing her lips at the thought of his _elves_. She sat down on his bed with the shawl in her lap, pulling it between her fingers absentmindedly.

She looked extremely on the edge. He didn't know what to say to make the situation better. He sat down next to her on his bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She sighed heavily and leant into him.

"No point in worrying until you know what you're dealing with" he reasoned. Hermione nodded but he knew she didn't feel it. He knew in her head the gear were working and cranking to get some sense of what was happening.

Winkles cracked back into sight with a sleeping bag, "I have this sir" the elf said extending the grey sack.

"That will do" Draco said taking it from the elf. "Thank you Winkles, you can retire for the evening. Morning…whatever" Draco said laying down the sleeping bag on the ground. Winkles bowed and exited the room.

Hermione looked around awkwardly; she was going to be spending the night in Malfoy's room. It sounded awkward, but under the circumstances she was more than happy to be here with him right now. Who else could she have turned to anyway, if it had been her choice? Maybe Harry, but even he was distant from her lately. Hermione pulled all of his pillows off the bed placing them in the chest at the foot of the bed.

Draco grabbed his sleeping cloths and went into the bathroom to change. Under any other circumstance, this would have been horrible, but right now it was fitting. This was part of being a friend, he was here for her, and everything that was his was at her disposal, and he didn't mind letting her have his bed at all. He would give her anything she asked for at this moment.

He came back out dressed in his boxers and tee-shirt "Do you need the bathroom?" he asked her. Hermione was sitting up in his giant bed, she was on the far right side and she looked tiny alone in his huge bed. She shook her head so he closed the door behind him.

His sweater was folded and placed on the chair next to her shawl; her shoes were under the bed, perfectly even with the edge. He knew he had a neat freak on his hands. He turned off the lights with his wand and climbed into his sleeping bag. The cool material was not helping his conservation of heat; a shiver ran through his body.

Hermione slipped under the covers, the thick down comforter enveloped her in warmth. She felt guilty for making him sleep on the floor; she knew she was demanding at the best of times. "Malfoy?" she whispered quietly after a few minuets of debating.

"Yes Granger?" came his reply from the floor.

"Do you want your bed back?" she asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, you can have it" he replied.

"I feel guilty, and like I'm wasting space. It's a huge bed…" she drifted off. Draco remained silent wondering where she was going with this. "Do you want to share?" she asked quickly.

"What was that?" Draco asked, he just wanted her to repeat it.

"Do you want to share with me; I'd feel safer if you were right here. I'm seriously missing a strong man to make me feel better, maybe you could flex for me?" she said with a small laugh.

"I don't know about the strong man you're talking about, but I am okay with sharing" he said jumping out of the sleeping bag and under the covers with her. He shifted towards her underneath the sheets until he could see her face and feel the warmth coming from her body. "Aren't you worried I'll do something?" he asked her honestly.

"What would you do? Because if you are planning something you should leave right now" she said seriously, then she smiled, "Honestly Draco, I'm not really worried about you doing anything. You are my friend, which means you respect me. And thus respect my body" she said simply.

"Very true" he grinned back thinking that her body was something to behold, "So long as you promise to not deflower me in my sleep I will maintain my respect for you".

"I'm not sure what's funnier, me deflowering you; or you being a virgin!" she laughed loudly, it echoed in his room. He laughed along with her not knowing what else to do.

"Alright Granger, shut it now. We need sleep, Kingsley will be here in three hours and I need those three hours of beauty sleep" he whispered to her. Hermione nodded silently "Can I get a hug before we go to sleep?" she asked. He was surprised; her voice was so small and timid.

"Yeah" he said shifting to her and wrapping his arms around her.

Hermione squeezed him tightly, she was glad he was hugging her, but in her heart, she secretly wished it was Harry's arms around her. She missed him. She pulled back with a sad smile.

"Goodnight" she sighed.

"Let's hope" was his gloomy reply.

* * *

Draco woke first, the sun had barely crept above the horizon, but there was a single strand of light across his face. He grumbled and rolled over, and rolled into… for a moment he almost crapped himself. Then his brain kicked in and he was reminded of who was sleeping next to him. Granger was curled up on the right side of the bed, the sheets wrapped around her tightly like a cocoon. He frowned and turned on his back, what times was it? The alarm clock on his bedside table said seven-thirty. He was tempting to sleep in, but knowing Kingsley would arrive in half an hour got him right out of bed. 

He grabbed the sheets around Granger and pulled her carefully to the middle of the bed, one more roll and she would have gone over. He rubbed his face and went to the bathroom. He would need some serious wake-up drought this morning; he didn't even feel alive at this moment. He stripped down and stepped into the shower.

Hermione woke to the sound of a shower. She yawned loudly into her pillow then inhaled. And the sent she inhaled was not her own, it was that of an expensive smelling cologne. She opened her eyes slowly and blinked. Oh, that was right; she was at Malfoy's. Because someone was killed and she was in danger. That was the deal.

She felt slightly more refreshed, but not enough to go through with today. Her stomach was turning unpleasantly as her mind threw possible names at her. Could it have been a professor? Ginny, perhaps on of the Weasley siblings…but why would that endanger her? She was at a loss.

The water stopped. She sighed deeply and stretched out on the bed. She needed to pee, but if she got up it would only be worse, she would just have to wait for Malfoy to get out. She was actually surprised he hadn't tried to pull anything on her. She felt a little guilty for thinking he would. But then again she only felt better about his extended friendship now. He had managed to gain a little more trust, actually a lot. The first time she had slept next to Ron, he had attempted to cop a feel. Then again, so had Harry.

The door opened and Malfoy exited with a towel around his waist. Hermione sat up in bed, "Good morning" she said with fake cheerfulness but it came out sullenly.

"Morning" Draco said, opting to forgo the 'good' part. His eyes roamed over her, she was wearing a little skimpy shirt and boxers. He had not noticed this attire earlier in his sleep like state. It was nice to say the least. Her hair though…was another matter, the question there was 'which direction was it not going in?'

"Can I?" Hermione asked motioning to the bathroom eagerly, nature was calling.

"Oh, go ahead. There are towels and products in there, but I don't have any clothing for you…I'll get Topples to find some" he said absentmindedly looking around the room.

"Thank you" Hermione said getting off of his bed and walking to the bathroom, but she couldn't help that her eyes roamed across his chest as she passed him. She winked at him and closed the door.

Hermione rushed out of the bathroom at five to eight in a towel. She knew Kingsley was a prompt person and would be arriving at eight on the dot. There was clothing laid out on the bed and Malfoy was sitting on the bed with crossed legs already dressed. "Oh thank you!" she sighed in relief, "Are there…" she began to ask but stopped her question when she found the underwear. She gave Malfoy an awkward smile and rushed back into the bathroom to get dressed.

When she finally dressed herself she found the clothing fit perfectly, where had he found it? Was it his mothers? That would have been awkward. But she hardly imagined Narcissa in tight ripped jeans and a tee-shirt. Hermione exited the bathroom and frowned at Malfoy who was now reading a paper.

"Where did you find this clothing?" she asked unsurely.

"I had Topples go out and buy some" he said casually. Hermione frowned at him; that would be the second time he had bought her something. They were no longer even. Well she would get him something soon enough.

"Thank you" she said. Then she began looking around the room, searching for something.

"What do you need?" Draco asked with amusement. He was enjoying her flustered searching but he didn't want to stress her anymore than necessary.

"I don't suppose you would have a hair elastic" she said frustrated. Draco's eyes widened, yes an elastic would probably be best for Granger. He wouldn't want her to hurt anyone with that hair. It had already begun to expand.

"I have some ribbons. I used to wear them when my hair was long" he said getting off the bed and going to his commode from which he pulled a green silk ribbon out of the top drawer.

"Thanks" Hermione said taking it and pulling her hair back. At that moment Winkles entered the room with a sweeping bow.

"Master Kingsley is here" he said shortly.

Hermione took a deep breath and nodded, Draco nodded in return, "We'll be right down" he said. Hermione reached for his hand, and he gave it to her.

* * *

Hermione clutched Draco's hand so tightly he was sure it was going to fall off. They continued to walk along the busy muggle street following Kingsley who was also in muggle dress. He had said little, but promised to take them right away to the scene of the crime. Hermione and Draco were both wondering what could have possibly occurred around muggles. 

The May morning had begun to warm slightly; even though, Hermione was still shaking uncontrollably. She didn't know if she was ready to see this, whatever it was. The sun was hitting her skin and willing her to be happy and warm, in any other circumstance she might have. After such a great weekend, Monday seemed weaker than usual. But now, it seemed Monday was going to eat her alive.

Draco held to her hand still, no matter how much it hurt. He knew if he let go she would probably just topple. He tried to give her a reassuring squeeze but his fingers couldn't move, so he opted for a smile and nudge with his elbow. Hermione didn't smile at all; she just gave him a meaningful look.

"We're here" Kingsley said turning a corner. There were muggle policemen surrounding a car parked on the side of the street talking in quiet whispers. The area was taped off and traffic was re-directed into another lane. Hermione didn't know what to think. Was there someone in the car? In the trunk maybe, brutally murdered with a pickaxe? Why was there a car?

Kingsley turned back to Hermione and Draco, "These are members of the Ministry, dressed as muggles so as to not gather too much attention. Hermione, be prepared. Draco" Kingsley said evenly with a nod to Draco. Draco understood it as to not leave Hermione's side.

"Gentlemen, move please" Kingsley said, they took one glance at him and began to shift away; when the caught sight of Hermione some gave her sympathetic glances. Other's avoided her eyes.

Hermione let go of Draco's hand and walked forward to see _what_ and _who_ and _whatever_.

She stopped short, swaying on the spot unsurely. Her heart stopped beating; she didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to cry or wail. She felt a sickening gas in her stomach; it came up her throat, bile…sour and unwelcoming. She began to laugh.

Draco cringed from the sight. Hermione had gone over the deep end. He watched her fall to the ground by the body and laugh desperately. "Hermione" he whispered coming back up from behind her and pulling her away from the body.

"There is no way" she gasped tearfully, her stomach still churning. He pulled her to her feet; she began shaking and fell into his arms sobbing loudly "NO!" she cried. Kingsley sighed and went to cover the body, he nodded to the wizards and they began to clean up the scene.

"Hermione?" Kingsley began, "I'd like to know your thoughts on this. You are on this case and I want you to brief me on what you think" he said coolly. Draco glared angrily at Kingsley, how dare he ask something like that of Hermione so soon. Bastard.

"I'll tell you my thoughts" she said pulling away from Draco's chest. His shirt was soaked through with her tears. Hermione looked livid, anger had taken over her normally pretty features and she resembled a demon, her eyes wet and red. "This is someone's idea of a sick joke. A wizard run over by a car? Unable to use his wand to protect himself or even send for help? A muggle would have called the police. A muggle should have seen him nonetheless, especially if he'd been lying there for hours. And the car is still there, ruling out a hit and run" she was now hyperventilating. Her tone scary and vile, Draco wanted to step away from her but he knew better than to leave her at this moment "No, this is a sick joke, someone murdered him and then made it look like this"

"We know that Hermione. They are covering their tracks" Kingsley said with a sigh.

"But they didn't do it to cover it up Kingsley, this is a statement. They want it to be obvious, to be known. This is a warning. The great wonder, a member of the golden trio, Ronald Weasley killed by a muggle contraption. Who would have thought?" she asked with a twisted smile.

* * *

**A/N:** I think I said it would be a mystery...sorry if you didn't know. Lol. Ron had it coming, no? Okay, maybe I'm a bitch, but it was the plot all along. And things only get more interesting. But please don't hate me for killing Ron. I couldn't very well kill Harry, everybody knows he can't die. rolls eyes 


	5. Putting Out The Flame

**Chapter Five**

**Putting Out the Flame**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

"Don't fucking touch me!" Hermione said furiously pushing Kingsley away. He frowned at her; Draco could see that he was hurt by her actions.

"Hermione please, be reasonable, you need to go into hiding now! This is clearly an attack on you and ultimately Harry!" Kingsley said angrily advancing on her.

Draco wasn't sure what to do. He stood in the corner of Kingsley's office, watching the two of them battle. He was willing to side with Granger, but he knew Kingsley was in the right. He decided for right now all he could do was watch.

"So what then? I go into hiding until I waste away? I don't think so. You asked me what I thought and I told you! I want to be on the fucking case! You can't take it back!" she screamed irately, her hair was flying everywhere and her mascara was running down to her chin. Kingsley sighed tiredly and gave Draco a hopeless look. Draco just shrugged and shrunk further into the corner; it was not his business.

"He's my best friend" she cried tearfully "Well he _was_ anyway! Fucking hell, how can you not understand that I want to figure it out! I want whoever did this to suffer painfully"

"Hermione, you're next, don't be a fucking sacrifice!" Kingsley yelled back loosing his cool. "We know this wasn't an accident, why the hell would anyone openly kill Weasley? It means that the deatheaters out there are angry and ready to bring down Potter! He is off guard, they think it's easy, and how are they going to do it?" he asked her, wanting her to reason through it herself.

"I know, they want me and Ron out of the picture, because without us Harry can't make it…but it changes nothing. I refuse to sit and hide, I will be on this case, and if you refuse it to me, then you can just fire me and I'll do it alone" she finished coldly. Her chest was heaving and her brain was spinning.

"What if…" Kingsley began unsurely.

"If I die? Hopefully not before I get to the damn bastards and rip out their livers. And then they can kill me" she cried softly.

"Stop it!" Draco exclaimed, unable to stand anymore of it "Hermione, you'll discuss it tomorrow, you need some alone time now to grieve" he said walking towards her.

"I don't want to grieve" she said turning on him, "I've done enough grieving in my life; I want revenge"

"I know" he said, understanding completely "I know, but you're no good to yourself, or even to the case like this, you need to take a break and reassess. When you figure out some things…then you can help Ron" he explained gently placing a hand on her shoulder. She crumbled under his touch and he had to grab her around the waist to keep her upright. "You're okay" he whispered to her.

"Malfoy, take her back to your place, I'll talk to you both tomorrow. Allow no one to visit, lest for Potter. And make sure it's him" Kingsley warned exiting his own office and slamming the door behind him.

"Come on" Draco said pulling Hermione close to him and apparating them away.

* * *

"Is she…"

"She hasn't said anything for five hours, she's been up in my room just sitting silently, not even crying" Draco frowned leading Potter up to his room.

"I'd express my condolences, but I fear it would do little to help" Draco said tiredly to Potter; stopping at his door.

Harry nodded, "I haven't even had time to mourn really… and I won't be able to until I come to terms with it" he frowned looking at the door. "But it happened, and because of me" he added in frustration hitting the stone wall with his hand.

Harry Potter was confused about what had happened last night. Kingsley had barged into his home at three forty-five and had apparated him to his own house, told him to sit and wait. Harry had mulled over many possibilities, the worst of them being Voldemort's return, even though it was impossible. But when he had seen Ron's body that morning, it was as though someone had grabbed his heart and ripped it right out of his chest. And now, now that he knew Hermione might be next, his hands had begun to shake and he couldn't think straight. There were many questions flying through his mind, but the only coherent one at the moment was: what the hell is Hermione doing at Malfoy's? He decided to leave it unanswered, it wasn't important.

"Potter, do me a favor, don't be the martyr right now. Hermione doesn't need to be reminded why Ron was killed and who's next. Just console her as her best friend" Draco pleaded.

Potter nodded his head quickly, as though woken from a dream; he gave Draco an odd look. As though unable to understand why Draco cared so much about how Hermione felt. Draco opened the door to the room. Hermione was sitting on his chair running her shawl between her hands gently and staring out onto the Malfoy grounds with a vacant look on her face. Potter stepped in and Draco closed the door. He needed to go do some thinking as well.

* * *

Draco opened his door, Hermione was still in the chair, and it was now eight. He wondered if he could get her to eat. Potter had looked doubtful when Draco asked him if there was any response. He said Hermione had nodded, but that was about it.

He entered the room and closed the door loudly behind him to make his presence known, but Hermione barely moved. He walked over to her and sat on the window ledge, blocking her view. She still didn't move, but stared at his chest, her lips turned down. She was mumbling something, he could barely hear it, it sounded like restless rattled breathing. He dropped on his knees before her to listen.

"Thirteen years, three years were so lost, one year I cried, one month I felt so alone, a day made me feel better. In eight hours he disappeared, I yelled at him eight hours before he died. He hated me before he died, I felt glad that I had upset him. Thirteen years for my best friend to leave me… I loved him so much" she ran out of words and finally looked up at him, teary eyed.

"He hated me before he died" she whispered fearfully.

Draco licked his dry lips, unsure of what to say; he only shook his head. "No, no matter how mad Weasley was at you…he could never have hated you Hermione. Thirteen years of love and friendship can't be erased in five minuets" he insisted.

"Maybe…" she said simply, her eyes traveled down again. Draco looked at her poignantly. Hermione's eyes caught his sad gaze and she began to cry again, she slid off the chair and threw her arms around him. He sighed deeply into her hair and held her there on the ground. There was nothing else he could do.

"Things will get clearer with time" he promised. He could feel her nod against his shoulder. "You're a big girl, and you won't let this bring you down, you'll go out there and let Ron's memory rest in peace by finding the people who did this. It will get better" he said stroking her hair.

"I know" Hermione said "It's just… after everything we've been through. I find it hard to believe that one of us dies now…"

"That's life, someday, you'll have to die to, and so will I, and everybody else" Draco said pulling back, "Everything else, the time, place, way…it's all irrelevant, in the end, you all go to the same place"

"I just don't want to think he hated me when he died, because I was so angry last night. I was so pleased that I had hurt him…and now I feel so sick. I feel like I don't deserve to live. All I said to him was cruel words, rather than kind ones…is that how he would have remembered me?" she whispered.

"Hermione, stop it. You're doing this to yourself, Ron loved you, and you loved him. So your relationship wasn't meant to work out. But he was your friend; if he had been in trouble would you have helped him?" Draco asked.

"Yes" Hermione said surely, wishing she could have helped him last night.

"And he would have done the same for you… okay?" Draco said.

"Okay" she sighed wiping her eyes "I just…I don't know…" she frowned "I don't even know what to think and where to start…"

Draco didn't know what to say to her, so he opted to just listen. "I don't know how to live without him, you know? I'm not sure how to go through life knowing that I'll never hear him laugh or yell, or cry…" she faltered here and went silent.

"You're not a porcelain doll Hermione, and I'm not going to treat you as one. I've seen the things you've survived, and you'll survive this too. It will just take time, and you can't hurry that. I know it hurts; I'd be worried if it didn't. But this is life. It's not pretty, it's rather ugly and it's a constant struggle every day to come out on top" Draco said pulling her up off the ground.

Hermione nodded. She knew he was right. But she couldn't even let his words mean anything to her yet. In the moment she felt so gone. Not in her body at all. All she could think about was Ron's flesh, the way his lips curled. She wondered if he was cold. She wondered if his blood had stopped running in his veins, had he begun to fall apart. Was that dead? Was that gone forever?

"Do you want to eat?" Draco asked her changing the topic and snapping her out of her daydream.

"No, I'm not hungry" she whispered looking back out the window, and then to the bed longingly "I think I'm going to sleep, is it okay if I stay in here?"

"Okay. And you are welcome to use my room as you wish, if you are hungry I'll be downstairs…don't hesitate to ask for anything" he said tiredly exiting the room. He made his way downstairs unsurely…

Does Weasley's death mean something great, or was it just some bastard trying to prove a point? Was he really the first wall to demolish, which would make Hermione the next… that worried him greatly. He wasn't sure why. He didn't really know Hermione that well, but however much he knew her he respected her greatly and knew her death would be a giant loss. It was a truly troublesome thought…

* * *

He entered his room at exactly ten in the evening to check on Granger. She was curled up on the right side of the bed into a little ball. He picked up the shawl on the floor and threw it onto his desk; he also grabbed the covers and pulled them straight across her, forcing her to straighten out a little. Her face was wet, and so was the pillow…

"I can't sleep" she whispered opening her eyes and staring straight at him. Completely unabashed and filled with deep pain.

"Do you want some sleep drought?" he asked thoughtfully.

"No, I need somebody with me please" she said quietly.

"Who do you want me to get? Your parents? A Weasley? Potter?" Draco asked sitting down on the edge of the bed, misunderstanding her completely.

"I want you to be here with me, you're doing such a good job at being a friend" she smiled sadly.

"Sure" Draco said returning the small smile, "I'll get changed" he said motioning to the bathroom.

Hermione nodded and closed her eyes. She just needed someone with her, someone who didn't remind her of Ron. Ginny or Harry would just make her burst into tears again, and she knew they had their own grief to handle.

She crawled out of his bed and walked to his desk. She had seen a candle there earlier; she ran her hand across the desk in the dark until she felt it. She placed the long wax on its holder and moved it over to the window. She lit it with her wand and sat it right on the window ledge. It burned brightly; the reflection bounced off the glass and created a soft light around her.

Hermione sat down on the edge of the bed and watched the candle thoughtfully. She prayed silently.

Draco changed into his sleeping shorts and shirt and stood in front of the mirror, taking a good look at himself. He was worried. He really was. And for the first time in his life, not just about himself. He was worried about Granger, Hermione being hurt. He didn't want her to be hurt. He wanted her to be okay. She was so nice to him and he didn't want her to have to suffer. He wanted them to remain happy and friendly. He brushed his teeth and joined her.

He stopped at the door and watched her back. The candle burned brightly on the ledge casting a soft glow around her body. He watched her body expand and compress with her slow breathing. He felt almost like he was intruding.

"Hermione" he said walking over to her and sitting next to her on the bed. His eyes remained fixed on the candle, that flame needed to be put out.

"Yeah?" she asked softly.

"You have to put it out" he said simply; he knew she would understand his words.

"I know, but do I have to put it out now?" she asked sadly.

"Yeah, it's now or never" he said despondently. He knew what the candle was for, but he wouldn't allow her to mourn in such a way. It was inappropriate for someone like her.

Hermione stood and Draco stood along with her, she bent down by the candle and gazed at it tenderly. She ran her fingers along the length with a teary smile upon her face.

"Put it out Hermione" he repeated.

Hermione sighed deeply; she closed the flame with her thumb and pointer finger engulfing the room in total darkness "Bye" she whispered to the dark.

She turned away from the dead candle silently. But he could feel the heartbreak on her face. Hermione inched into bed.

Draco crawled under the sheets and faced her silently. She sniffled and he could see her wide glassy eyes staring at him. "That's it. He's gone" she whispered.

"Yeah, that's how it works" Draco frowned.

"I've let him go" she sighed moving closer to him; her sweet breath hitting his face.

"You needed to let him go Hermione. Put out the flame. There's no point in keeping what you do not have" he said simply.

Hermione nodded slowly. Draco placed his hand on her pillow next to her face, the fabric was soaked. "Please stop crying" he whispered.

"I can't" she said tearfully.

He wished she would stop crying. This friend thing was taking a toll on him. He hated seeing her cry just as much as he loved seeing her laugh. He had a sickening feeling knowing he might not see her laugh for a long time now. He watched a tear trapped her on her eyelash glimmer in the moonlight streaked across her face. Melancholy.

"Will you leave me too? I don't want to have to put you out too" she said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" he asked with a frown, moving even closer to her. Unable to hear her clearly; her voice muffled into the pillow.

"Harry has already left me, I can feel it. He's gone into that deep corner of his mind where he is alone. And it is all him. I can't grieve like that; I need someone here with me" she explained wiping her eyes.

"Nothing can tear us apart" Draco smiled placing a warm hand on her cheek. He stroked her gently, feeling the salty trails of tears long gone "I said I'd be your friend, and I promise I will be. Good or bad. You and I. Sticking up for one another. Okay?" he asked extending his pinky.

Hermione took his pinky with her own. They were too old for these promises, childhood was gone. Innocence was being torn away everyday. And yet, it was the little things; those sweet reminders of innocence that made it easier to carry on every day.

"I'll take that promise to heart" she whispered.


	6. Say The Word

**Chapter Six**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Potter to the Harry. Okay?

**A/N: **Heyo! I just realized as I was going through this chapter, which I'm sorry that it took me forever to write, but all of the people who participated in my be a character contest were anon. So… since I will be writing that new character chapter soon if you would still like to be in the fic and you were one of the three who answered, please sign in and send me a message. Just say 'this one is me!' or something like that. And if possible all three should do so. Just in case number one, or two, don't send me a message. So…I give one week for those messages from today. And then I will be starting to plan out the chapter. Sorry I didn't realize it sooner, it was my bad. And this is somewhat of a filler chapter, so there isn't too much action. But the next chapter will make up for it. Enjoy!

* * *

"All right. So what do you propose?" Harry sighed. He rubbed the bridge of his nose where his glasses rested and tried to calm his jumpy nerves.

"I propose stealthy auror investigation" Kingsley replied just as wearily from where he was seated on Hermione's window bench. Hermione snorted loudly at his response. Kingsley raised his eyes towards her and narrowed them to slits, "What do you propose Granger?" he asked coolly. She had been getting on his nerves all damn morning with her huffy mood. He knew he should have been consoling and kind, but she was wearing thin on him.

"Anything stealthy is out of the question. People will realize Ron is dead very quickly, he will be hard to miss with his upcoming tournament and all. We put it out there. Get the Prophet to write sappy eulogies and pieces about him. We want these deatheaters to think we are shaken" she said clearly. She had it all thought out. Hermione crossed her arms and leant back in her chair.

"Go on" Harry said simply, he sat on her desk and crossed his ankles, signaling he was ready to listen to her ideas.

"If we try to hide Ron's death" Hermione swallowed painfully, "We'll only be sending mixed signals to these deatheaters. They'll be asking themselves if we saw it coming. Otherwise why would we be hiding something like this? We put the death out there; say that the cause of death is unknown, but plausible to be some crazed Quidditch fanatic who had too much to drink. That way we leave the deatheaters feeling secure" Hermione sighed.

"Alright, sounds very well and all, but what -" Kingsley began, he sounded angry. He was infuriated that Granger had millions of ideas and he had none. Who had been working as the auror longer? Where did she come off sounding like she knew it all?

Harry raised a hand to Kingsley to silent him. Kingsley was surprised at Potters insolence but decided to let it slide for the boy wonder.

"We break out the files. We look through the list of living and missing deatheaters, we contact Azkaban, make sure they do a proper head count. Then we start narrowing suspects" Hermione said simply.

"Why do you assume it will be former deatheaters?" Kingsley said crossing his arms. He wanted this meeting over and done with as soon as possible. He had better things to be doing at the moment; Bavarian officials were waiting for him in his office.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Hermione countered snippily. She had been on edge all morning. She was secretly impressed with Malfoy's handling of her this morning. She had not been easy on him. Instead she had actually been rather cruel to him. She had indeed thrown her teacup at his head. But he let it all slide off like it was nothing. He practically dressed her, fed her, and got her to work. Then he knowingly nodded and gave her a small hug before pushing her into the floo. Now her unforgiving mood was being tested upon Harry and Kingsley.

Hermione couldn't explain it, but she had woken up in a livid rage. She wanted to destroy everything in sight and unfortunately for Malfoy, he happened to be the first thing in sight. Hermione could only assume this was how she processed grief, because there was no other credible explanation for such antagonism so early in the morning.

Harry eyes Kingsley warily; the vein on his forehead seemed ready to explode. Harry understood what Hermione was going through having gone through it himself many times before. But the last thing they needed would be an angry Minister. "Hermione, please elaborate" Harry sighed.

"Well, who else would do such a thing? I mean. Ron is-…was a wizard. Should it have been a muggle attack we would have at least been informed. And how can a muggle cause a death with no visible side-effects, a death that resembles natural causes? We got the results back this morning Harry" she sighed. Harry nodded understanding what she was getting at. "We saw that there was no bodily harm, no poisoning, nothing of the sort. So we must assume it was a wizard. Secondly what wizard would kill Ron? Unless we can find another person with an extreme motive for killing Ron…then that leaves no one but deatheaters. And it was you who suggested it Kingsley" Hermione added accusingly.

Kingsley frowned, "I know I did, I was just throwing ideas about" he said defensively.

"You seemed awfully sure who had done it when you attacked me for plausible reasons the morning I saw Ron. And I told you what I thought. I told you it looked like a warning to me" Hermione said sadly.

Harry turned to Kingsley furiously. He was scowling, he had not heard about this. How dare Kingsley pull Hermione from her home and start interrogating her about Ron like that? It was cruel and uncalled for.

Kingsley was turning red and avoiding Harry's stare, "I was just asking your opinion" Kingsley muttered softly.

Hermione turned and gave Harry a meaningful look; he nodded and jumped off her desk. Hermione got up off of her chair and they both advanced on Kingsley. "What do you know that we don't?" Harry asked callously.

Kingsley actually looked frightened for once, "I- I…alright, there was a note" he sighed rubbing his head. The reaction was what he had expected, in a moment he was bombarded with angry yelling and threats.

"SILENCE!" he boomed and Harry and Hermione fell silent in an instant. But the angry looks did not slide from their faces. "There was a note" Kingsley repeated slowly, "That stated that Hermione would be next".

"Deatheaters" Hermione said simply crossing her arms. Kingsley nodded in defeat.

"I want to see this note" Harry said coolly, and then he took Hermione elbow and led them out of her office.

* * *

Hermione knocked softly on the door of the burrow. Harry sighed and raised his own hand, he knocked properly. Hermione was terrified to tell the family, but both she and Harry knew that it would be best coming from them rather than some government official.

The door opened and Mrs. Weasley stared down at them. "Children, come on now! Inside! You know very well you do not need to knock. Family and all" she bustled leaving them at the door to follow her in. Harry and Hermione exchanged glances and then walked in holding hands.

"Hermione we haven't seen you around here very often lately" Mrs. Weasley continued to yap. Hermione and Harry walked into the kitchen. "You haven't been over twice in the past three months" Mrs. Weasley said coolly.

"Is Ginny here?" Harry interjected.

"Yes, she always here when she's not with you. Didn't you check home?" Mrs. Weasley said rolling her eyes, "Ginerva!" She screamed up the stairs.

"Actually, if you could please call everyone down" Hermione said softly, "We have something to tell everyone".

Mrs. Weasley frowned but then took a deep breath and screamed, "FAMILY MEETING!" her voice echoed throughout the house and the sound of scurrying feet could be heard in the distance.

"Is everyone here?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"Yes, luckily, Arthur too. He has a bad cold so I kept him home today" she sighed tapping her foot. The stairs began to rumble as Fred and George came running down and into the kitchen.

Mr. Weasley and Percy came in through the backdoor and Ginny appeared from the basement. "What's going on?" she asked taking a look at Harry. The rest of the Weasley's looked skeptical too. Family meeting were not often called in their household.

Harry raised his eyes to the Weasley clock; everyone was pointed at home but Ron. Whose hand was pointed at lost. "It's been like that for the past day, who knows what he's doing now" Percy tittered catching Harry's gaze.

"Sit" Harry said in a harder tone that he intended, but all of the Weasley's grabbed a chair and sat down at their family table. He and Hermione awkwardly stood at the head of their table. "There's horrible news" Harry began slowly.

"Well out with it mate!" Fred said banging his fist on the table in mock anger, his faced scrunched in an ugly fashion. When neither Harry nor Hermione laughed at his action the smile slid from Fred's face to be replaced with a somber frown. Something was indeed wrong.

Hermione placed her hands flatly on the table; she looked at the one empty chair at the end of the table beside Ginny and remembered who sat there. "Ron is dead" she said softly but securely.

There was complete silence in the Weasley house for the first time in history. No one spoke, there were no explosions, no screaming or fighting or laughing, no one even dared to breathe. Finally Ginny broke the silence, "What?" she asked softly.

"Ron is dead" Hermione repeated loudly and harshly. How many times would she be required to repeat those damn three words?

Mrs. Weasley was turning white. "How…" she asked softly.

"We assume deatheaters" Harry said shortly. His voice was wavering watching the Weasley's attempt to soak in the news. Fred and George looked dumbstruck, Ginny was already silently crying, and Percy was cleaning his glasses with fervor blinking his own tears away rapidly.

"You assume?" Mr. Weasley asked with a shaky voice.

"We're trying to piece together what happened, but we don't understand everything yet" Hermione tried to explain. "We're trying really hard though, to find out what happened and to get the people responsible for this" Hermione promised tearfully. This was taking a greater toll on her than she had expected it to. She had walked in prepared to do this unemotionally and quickly, but that plan was falling through her outstretched fingers.

"Where was he found?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"A small muggle street in London" Harry said, his eyes still on Ginny. His heart was breaking for her as he watched her cry silently. Just one tear after another, all melting together into a single stream.

"Leave" Mrs. Weasley choked out.

"But-" Harry began.

"Not you Harry dear, I want her to leave" she said pointing a finger at Hermione. The whole room was astonished at what she said. Hermione included.

"What?" Hermione asked in disbelief. She stepped back in shock. Her head was spinning and she felt as though she was dreaming; she must have been dreaming.

"I want you to leave; you brought this tragedy about into our house!" Mrs. Weasley screamed. Mr. Weasley was trying to keep her in her seat.

"What did I do?" Hermione screamed back slamming her hands on the table in rage.

"You probably said something to my baby boy. Like you used to before to hurt him, and then he went off and did something dangerous because of you! You were the one who broke his heart. And then he went and found that lovely girl to mend it. You ruined my son Hermione, and you've brought about his death too!" Mrs. Weasley said irately.

"Mum, you're bang out of line" George said sadly "Hermione didn't kill Ron. Someone else did" he tried to ration. But there would be no rationing with Mrs. Weasley.

"OUT! OUT! OUT!" She screamed her face turning red and she pulled out of Mr. Weasley's grasp and began to stand.

Hermione felt like the knots in her chest had loosened yet again and all of her carefully tied emotions were slipping loose. She spun on her heel and ran out of the house. She ran as fast as she could to the apparition point and then took herself directly home.

"Hermione!" Harry called running outside to stop her. But after calming Mrs. Weasley he had lost time, and now Hermione was nowhere to be seen. He gasped for breath and leant against the wooden fence lining the Weasley property. He didn't know what to do. For the first time he really had no plan.

Hermione ran up to her apartment door, she unlocked the door successfully after her third try. Her shaking hands wrenched open the door and she slammed it loudly behind her. She threw her purse across the room; she ripped off her jacket and threw it too. She stalked across the parquet and into her room, knocking a lamp off of a table angrily on her way. The smashing noise it made upon contact with the floor was calming and gratifying.

Hermione pulled off all of her clothing and collapsed into her bed tearfully. She didn't know what to do. She had almost convinced herself that it was not her fault; she had been so close to believing a lie. But it seemed that it was her fault. Mrs. Weasley thought so.

Hermione pulled the sheets up over her head and cried herself tired into sleep.

* * *

Draco opened the unlocked door to Hermione's apartment. Potter had told him to check on her to make sure she was okay. Draco knew something must have been off if Potter was telling him to check on Granger willingly.

Immediately Draco sensed that things seemed off as he entered. Why on earth was her door unlocked? He looked about her room and frowned deeply, her things were strewn and there was a broken lamp upon the floor. It looked like there had been a scuffle. He drew his wand and carefully walked to her kitchen, and then her bathroom. Both were empty, which left the closed door that must have been her bedroom.

He pressed his ear to the door and heard nothing, slowly he opened it. Hermione's clothing was thrown about the room and there was a small lump rising and falling in the bed. Draco sighed and leant against her door collecting himself. He put his wand away.

Draco walked over to her bed and pulled the covers back slightly. It was definitely Hermione, scrunched into a small ball in the middle of her large bed. She was sleeping and there were salt trails down her cheeks. What had happened? Clearly she had caused the damage he had seen. Draco left her in bed and went back out into her living room; he locked her door and then began putting up wards. She needed to be more careful now.

He cleaned up the mess and threw away the broken lamp pieces in the trash, and then he returned to her bedroom. He considered waking her, but he wasn't sure if she was over her little tantrum. It had taken all the patience he had to deal with her that morning. Draco had wanted to throttle Hermione and tell her to grown up, but he knew what she was feeling. He had acted the same way when his mother had passed away. And even for his father. He understood, when no one else might have, he did. Draco knew how you could miss those you hated.

He decided against waking her and thought to do her a favor. He picked up her clothing and dumped it in her laundry basket by her door, and then he silently closed her door and decided to cook Hermione a meal.

Hermione woke with her nose in the air, something smelt delectable, but on the verge of burning. She crawled out of bed and looked around; it was near six, dinner. Her clothing was gone and she could hear rustling through her door. Harry was probably here to do some damage control. Maybe she had overreacted by running out. But Mrs. Weasley told her to leave. So she did.

Hermione ran her fingers through her hair and opened her door leaning against the frame. She was surprised to see Malfoy in her kitchen. She watched him bend awkwardly at the waist to open her stove and pull out a pot. He placed it on her stove and threw the dish towel over his shoulder. Hermione smiled and sighed softly. She was glad it wasn't Harry. She didn't want to talk about what happened. It was done with and it seemed she was done with the Weasley family.

"Hey there" Hermione said quietly walking into the kitchen.

"Hey" Draco smiled wiping his hands on her apron. He raised his eyebrows at her attire. "Naked much?" he asked.

"No, I'm wearing my underwear" Hermione said defensively.

"Put some clothing on and eat with me" he grinned.

"Alright" Hermione sighed walking back to her room. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a plain blue shirt. "Happy?" she asked coming back into the kitchen.

"Very" Draco laughed, but his laugh died short when he saw the look on her face. Her smiled was extremely strained, and her eyes did not seem all there.

"You'll tell me what happened over dinner" he said simply taking his pot of spaghetti to her small table. There was no room for argument so Hermione nodded weakly and sat down.

Draco placed a plate and fork in front of her and grabbed his salad from the kitchen. When everything was on the table and he had served both Hermione and himself he continued, "Why did Potter as me to check up on you?" he asked.

"Because the Weasley's went terribly" Hermione said honestly blowing on her strands of spaghetti before shoving her fork in her mouth.

Draco frowned at her. Hermione swallowed and continued thickly, "Mrs. Weasley told me to leave her house because I was responsible for Ron's death. I basically killed him, because I broke his heart, and I caused him to go away from his family and I caused those people to murder him" Hermione said bitterly.

Draco watched her fork tremble in her fingers. Then it dropped down into her plate as she burst into tears covering her face with her hands. Draco sighed placing his own face in his hands. Stupid women, she knew nothing. She must have not known what Weasley had really done to Granger. How he had betrayed and destroyed her.

"Oh Hermione" he whispered sadly.

"I can't help but feel like it's true" Hermione sobbed, "It's what everyone thinks anyway. I'm the one who broke Ron's heart, I'm the one who caused him to be distant, and it was me who made him start drinking!" she cried loudly. Draco had not known that Weasley drank, this was news to him. "Let's just blame me for everything" she concluded.

Draco placed a hand on her shoulder and waited for Hermione to look up at him, "Hey, don't worry about Weasley's mother. She was out of line and probably so grief stricken she didn't know what the hell she was saying. You need to let this go Hermione; it's not your fault. And even thought you can't see it now. I assure you that you soon will" Draco promised.

Hermione looked up at him and nodded, "Thanks Draco, you really are very nice" she hiccupped "I guess I never thought you would be a real friend, but here you are, checking up on me, cleaning my house and feeding me because I am a blubbering idiot. If that doesn't say you care then I don't know what does" Hermione admitted.

"I'll be the best friend you've ever had if you let me" Draco said honestly taking one her hands in his "I can promise you that. I'll be by your side through the whole case, and if you want me to for as long as we live. Because Granger, you are my first genuine friend. You don't want my money or influence; you aren't friends with me because you're scared of me or because you just want sex. No you genuinely like me, and that is why I've come to like you in this short time too" he paused and squeezed her hands.

"I'll be there, say the word. I won't screw this up" Draco promised solemnly.

The sat silently for a few moments just holding each others hands. Hermione was frowning at Draco; she couldn't understand why he really cared. Did he really care about her? At all? He must have, for here he was. Draco didn't have to be here with her, but he was regardless. Some people do change, they really do. And if he would offer her such friendship, she wanted it. Hermione needed to break out, you couldn't always have the same friends from school forever. People were meant to part and stray aside. She knew soon she and Harry would be pulling apart, especially now that Hermione no longer even wished to be associated with the Weasley's. Even though it was only Mrs. Weasley who said the words, Hermione knew everyone felt them. She was going to start fresh, and as soon as Ron's case was over she was moving away from London.

"What's the word?" Hermione asked with a tearful smile and Draco knew he had her then.


	7. Blood On Her Hands And Skirt

**Chapter Seven**

**Blood on her Hands and Skirt**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

"Banana"

"What?" Hermione asked in confusion. She looked up from her scribbled and scrapped parchment and grimaced.

"Please hand me a banana" Draco muttered still looking at his parchment.

"If you spoke in complete sentences more often, perhaps you would be easier to understand" Hermione muttered as she leant back and grabbed a banana out of the bowl on her office desk. She handed it to Draco who took it without even looking up.

He had a hand in his hair pulling his bangs back and was resting his elbow on his knee. His other knee had a piece of parchment on it, which he was tapping with a quill. Hermione could see the ink splatters on his paper. Draco looked positively aggravated.

"Who do you have?" Harry asked barging into Hermione's office. He looked peeved and harassed. The door slammed loudly into the wall behind it and Hermione jumped in her chair.

"If you weren't my friend I would have hexed your arse a kilometer away" Hermione said leaning back in her chair tiredly, trying to calm herself.

"Can I see?" Harry asked reaching for Hermione's list completely ignoring her previous words.

"Go ahead" she frowned.

Harry picked up her list and looked over it with disbelief on his face. "Why isn't Bianca on the list?" he asked incredulously.

"Why would she be?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"Hermione, she had just found out her fiancé had been cheating on her for months, you don't think she would be mad?" Harry said with a smirk finding pleasure in one-upping his friend.

"Then what am I Harry? Chopped liver?" Hermione asked. Harry knew she had a point there. "I found out the same things she did, so you might as well put me down on that list too" Hermione frowned.

"You have an alibi" Harry replied.

"Till one in the morning but what about after that? What then?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione, do you want to get on the fucking list?" Harry asked in aggravation.

"I'm just trying to get you to think Harry. Did I go out and kill Ron? No. So why would she? I don't think Bianca had it in her to do something like that. Besides, I don't understand the point of this list, it's ridiculous. I told you what we should be doing" Hermione said in annoyance.

"Yes, but Kingsley wants non-deatheater suspects too" Harry said quietly continuing to look over the list. "George Weasley?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Yeah, they had a few fights over the whole breaking up with me thing. And George has always been one of my avid supporters" Hermione explained.

"How does that get him on the suspect list?" Harry asked in confusion.

"I don't know, but after putting down all of _Ronald's_" Harry flinched at her use of his full name "teammates and Quidditch enemies, I ran out of people. Lets be honest Harry, nobody wanted to kill Ron. Nobody that wasn't a deatheater of course. And we got that damn note. So why are we even arguing this" Hermione groaned.

"The note is arbitrary" Harry said quietly.

"Harry, it said 'Beware Mudblood'" Hermione frowned.

"That's not what it said" Harry retorted with a smug expression.

"Close enough" Hermione said in frustration. Harry was getting on her nerves very quickly. He and Kingsley were really trying to hold her back from getting this case started. Refusing to let her start looking for deatheaters, and making her sit in her office and draw up pointless suspect lists.

"What does the note say?" Draco asked with a mouth full of banana. Hermione stood and walked over to her desk, she pulled open her drawer and handed Draco a small piece of parchment.

"Mudblood and Mudblood lover alike in order" Draco read out casually. "Sound like 'Beware Mudblood' to me, and then 'Beware Weasley Sr.'" Draco smiled wryly. He was funny.

He was not funny. Hermione snatched the note back. "Of course it's not Mr. Weasley, that wouldn't make sense. What would I have to do with Ron and Mr. Weasley, it clearly states after me it's Harry" Hermione said seriously. Five hours and twenty minutes wasted upon these damn lists. Ten times Kingsley sent them back saying the list was inadequate. Six times she and Draco had fought in the last five hours and twenty minutes. Three times she had begun to cry. Once Draco had apologized. Hermione was ready to blow.

"You know what Harry" Hermione said advancing on him, "If you and Kingsley are so fucking smart, why don't you two do this ridiculous list and I will actually do something significant!" she screeched cornering Harry back into her door.

"That's not our job" Harry said timidly.

"WELL THEN STOP TELLING ME HOW TO DO MINE AND LET ME DO IT!" Hermione screamed. Her voice echoed through the room and people outside in the reception area stopped to stare at her office.

Silence ensued; Harry opened his mouth looking about ready to protest. But he caught Malfoy's eye and watched him feverishly shake his head. He knew Malfoy was right; taking on Hermione now was a death wish. He opened the door behind his back and stepped out silently, Hermione's eyes never left him.

"Now, that's over, let's get started" Hermione said straightening her skirt and turning back to Draco. She grabbed her purse off her desk and her jacket off the hook on her door.

"Right you are Granger" Draco mumbled stuffing the last of the banana in his mouth and standing to follow her.

* * *

"Who do we have?" Draco asked rubbing the smear of ink on his nose only deeper into his skin. He placed aside another painstakingly investigated folder. He looked up to Hermione. She was sitting cross-legged across from him, her own folder before her. Her jacket covering the view to her knickers and a quill behind her ear. 

"Crabbe, Jugson, and Travers" Hermione sighed.

"Seriously?" Draco asked looking up.

"Yeah, I saw the three escape with grave injuries, but we still have reason to believe they are still alive. They are wizards after all" she sighed leaning back against the wall of cabinets.

"What about those whose bodies were never found?" Draco asked quietly grabbing the folder on Crabbe.

Hermione's voice hitched…she wasn't so sure how to approach the question. "I don't know…do you reckon we should look into their files too?" she asked. Draco nodded silently. Hermione let her eyes drop to the floor, "But perhaps we should leave those as last resorts" she added. Draco nodded again and ran a hand through his hair. "You okay?" Hermione asked, "Is it too much for today?"

"No, I'm fine" he said evenly.

Hermione nodded and looked away from Draco, she felt like she was prying into his life. These were people that Draco had suffered his childhood for. People he now had to be reminded of. Hermione had been careful to place Lucius Malfoy's file in her pile so that he wouldn't have to read it again. It was enough to watch your father be blown to bits, but unnecessary to reiterate it.

"Well, I'm not fine" Hermione sighed "My back is killing me, and I have a migraine coming on. So I think we should drop the package on Kingsley's desk and call it a day. It's near five"

"You have somewhere to be?" Draco asked curiously.

"In bed" Hermione muttered "I'd like to go home, feed my cat and myself, and then sleep"

"Have you checked with Potter on that? He said your house wasn't safe enough for the time being" Draco reminded her as he cleaned up the papers. He placed them all into a large purple folder for Kingsley. He just didn't want to be alone tonight; he was tired of going home alone every night. As dismal as the situation was, he still sickeningly enjoyed Hermione's company. She was his friend.

"Yeah, I guess I'll have to stop by his office and see what the hell is going on. I mean, I still have to go home one way or another, my crap is all there" she said bitterly attempting to stand.

"You were a tad harsh on Potter today" Draco pointed out softly. He felt it needed to be said, but wanted to get away without a fight.

Hermione was standing in a second and suddenly she was towering over Draco menacingly. He was intimidated enough simply being in her presence, but he could see her fingers twitching for her wand. "He deserved it, I don't know what he and Kingsley are going on about, but I don't understand why they are making it so damn difficult to get this shit started. If you ask me, there is some conspiring going on that we are not aware about" Hermione said coolly as her fingers still trembled.

"Friends don't jinx friends" Draco reminded her quietly.

Hermione pursed her lips and stepped back. Draco stood in relief, getting on Hermione's wrong side was not a good end to his day. He picked up the folder and sighed, "Alright, let's go then"

She was trying, hell she was trying very hard at that too. But it felt like her whole life was still crashing around her. Why had nothing gone away, why had nothing healed itself? Why was Hermione still hurting every moment of the day? Her whole body still ached with unfathomable grief.

Coming to terms with _his_ death was more difficult than expected. Granted it had been but two and a half days since…nonetheless nothing seemed to be looking up. Instead Hermione just found herself spiraling uncontrollably into some deep pit of hopelessness. She was so caught up in her own grief that it was difficult to even imagine how the Weasley's really felt. Hermione would have given anything to be holding on to Ginny at the moment. She wanted her best friend with her, but somehow she could not see Ginny ever talking to her again.

Hermione could barely recall the last time she, Ron, Ginny and Harry had been together. All together without tension or hate towards one another. But it came to her vaguely; it had been in their most turbulent time's right before the final battle. They had held to one another for dear life as Hermione had mumbled a silent prayer to some God or other for help. It was such a defining moment, the moment where Hermione realized these people were her life, her air, water and bread. She needed them to get through the day…after that moment things began to plunge…She wanted Harry's cheek on hers and Ron's arms around her waist. She wanted to be holding Ginny's hands. A sob escaped her lips.

Hermione stopped right in front out him and let out a strangled sob. Draco jumped in the air. She had shaken him to his bones. He reached out a hand to place on her shoulder, but she slumped onto the ground before he could. He could hear her attempt to clamp another sob with her fingers, but it was to no avail.

"Oh Hermione" he sighed kneeling down next to her. He would never admit that she was tiring, but she was. But he could understand. He knew the pain she was still processing, and Draco also knew that he would be one of the few to help her along.

God, what was wrong with her? Could she not get through the day without being a drama queen? She was pathetic, simply pathetic, a sniveling, stupid, foolish, girl. And yet the sobs kept coming, no matter how she tried to stop them. They rattled through her body, shaking her bones, and echoed against the metals walls of cabinets with the sense of loss.

Draco pushed the curtain of hair from her face and exhaled. Her fingers were trembling on her lips as she continued to weep. If only he knew what the hell was going through her mind. "Please don't cry" he pleaded with her.

Hermione's eyes rose to his, and she remembered that she was not alone. His grey eyes were crinkled with emotions, and Hermione could see the tears collecting at the ends. Was he crying for her, or because of her? Her voice had been lost, and now all she was left were with heaving breaths. "Come here" Draco whispered getting on his knees and opening his arms. Hermione fell into him gladly. "Tell me what caused these tears" he said stroking her hair.

"Ron is gone, and Harry and Ginny are gone too…do you know that I have not felt close to Harry in six years. In six years I have not been able to hug him and understand him. Everyday I see him and yet I feel like…it will never be what it once was. The war changed him, since then he has not been the boy I came to love, I lost Ginny so long ago too, when I left Ron…perhaps even before that. I feel like I'm losing the people who made me. I feel like years of my life are coming to mean nothing and are slowly being erased by the indifference of those whom I love" she wailed the last word loudly "it's like nothing ever happened. It's like I never knew Ron, like the three of us never went through anything together, like those years of building this love and trust never happened. I feel like I know Harry less than I know the weekly assistants. And he treats me that way" she paused for a moment. Draco watched the grief wash across her face "Harry treats me like he doesn't actually know me…he's been treating me that way for years. He never calls anymore, nor does Ginny, they never really talk to me…" she shook her head in disbelief. Hermione wiped her eyes with her sleeve, "I'm being erased by them…"

"Oh no Hermione" Draco said softly, he couldn't believe he was crying himself. He wiped his eyes hastily and took Hermione's face in his hands. "No Hermione, they can't erase you. They can't" he promised.

"You don't understand Draco; you can't possibly understand the things we lived through together. We were so close; we all could have been born of the same mother. To know the people you love, and to fully identify with and appreciate them is such a bond that is astonishing, but to then realize it's gone…it makes me feel like nothing was accomplished" she whispered.

"You'll be fine; you'll see that things will get better. I'll keep repeating it for you now because you can't see it, but you will eventually" Draco said squeezing her chin, "If the bond between you Potter and Weasley is so great…then you'll come back to each other. You will need each other. You and Potter lost a part of yourselves when Ron died, only you two can help one another heal. And I don't think Potter wants to lose you, I think he's scared to; so he's distancing himself from you. He's scared to see you might not exist" Draco said stroking her face.

Hermione nodded, "I really hope so" she said shakily.

Draco stood and pulled her up with him. "Wipe your face and straighten your cloths. We need to go hand this to Kingsley and then call it a night" Draco sighed. Hermione wiped her face with the back of her hand, she still looked utterly wretched. Her nose and eyes were red, it was too easy to tell she was crying, but Draco said nothing, instead he took her cool hand in his and led her out of the office.

* * *

They knocked on Kingsley's door, "Come in" he said tiredly. 

Draco opened the door and steered Hermione in, he dropped the file on Kingsley's desk loudly. "Here is your pointless information, and here" Draco took another file out from his bag "Is what you should really be looking at" Draco said coldly.

His tone surprised Hermione; she could not believe he was so composed. To shut himself down so quickly, to go from a caring and warm friend to a professional in ten minutes was amazing. But there was still an edge in his tone that Hermione had never heard used against her. Not even back in school.

Hermione had cried thirty-four separate times since she had heard about Ron's death. Twenty of them had been in the presence of another, ten had been with Draco. Twenty-five of her cries had been of valid reason; the rest had been just like the last. Completely pointless. Fifteen times she had screamed another fourteen had been silent. Four times she had blubbered throughout. Once she had admitted her greatest fear.

"Thank you" Kingsley said just as coolly. His eyes refused to lift from his desk, it seemed he was attempting to ignore the both of them.

Draco looked to Hermione, but saw that her eyes were distant. She was preoccupied. "I was wondering if Hermione's home is safe, she'd like to spend the night there" Draco asked for her.

"No, she cannot go home under any circumstance, you'll just _have_ to put up with _her_ Malfoy" Kingsley sneered. Draco wanted to shove his wand down the Ministers throat and curse for the rude comment, but he thought better of it.

"I assure you she is _not_ problem for _me_" he paused and then continued "Although I'm sure she would like to gather some of her own belongings"

"Perhaps" Kingsley said distractedly.

"Listen, I just want to go home, grab some shit, and if I have to live with Malfoy for the rest of my life, then so be it. But let me collect some of my things. I don't very well have to go alone" Hermione said tiredly.

"We'll discuss it" Kingsley said.

"Well let's" Hermione replied sitting down in a chair.

Kingsley stared at her in disbelief, "Why on earth can't I go home for half an hour with Auror protection?" Hermione asked crossing her arms.

Draco could feel the heat rising from the back of her neck. He sat down in the chair next to her silently.

Kingsley was gaping like a fish, "I told you your home is not safe" he said.

"How do you know?" Hermione asked.

"Well…if you are indeed a target-"

He was cut off by a livid Hermione, "How on earth can I be a target when I had to make up a stupid suspect list for you? DO YOU THINK GEORGE WEASLEY WOULD KILL ME?" she asked loudly, "Get your fucking stories straight. Are we looking for deatheaters, or will we just ignore all of the evidence and say it was arbitrary. Because from the work I've been forced to do, it doesn't seem like you give the deatheater story much credit. In that case I should be able to go home" Hermione finished.

Kingsley looked like he was struggling for words, "Listen Granger, you'll do what I tell you. You can't go home" he said.

"Are you withholding more information from me?" Hermione asked silently.

Kingsley did not respond.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

"Leave now" Kingsley said loudly. Draco could sense the tension between the two.

"Oh, I plan to" Hermione said standing angrily. She whipped around and practically ran out of the office.

"Are you withholding information from us?" Draco asked with a sigh as he stood to follow Hermione.

"Listen, you keep her away from her house, you hear me?" Kingsley said in a threatening tone.

Draco scoffed loudly at him and walked out of the office. He shut the door behind him when Hermione sighed to his right. She was leaning on the wall by the door with an odd expression on her face. Draco frowned and exhaled loudly through his nose.

"We need to go to my house" she said obviously.

"I agree" Draco muttered. They began a silent trek to the apparition point in the lobby.

* * *

"Fucking hell" Draco yelped, "I almost splinched myself that time!" 

"Why would anyone go so damn far to keep me out of my own house? Something happened and neither Kingsley nor Harry are telling me what. Guaranteed my house has been totally trashed or burned to the ground" Hermione supposed "Let's apparate to the street outside" she suggested.

"What about the muggles?" Draco asked unsurely, "I don't need to get in trouble for being seen".

"It's near six; I don't think anyone will be looking outside. All of my neighbors are eating dinner" Hermione said with a shrug.

"If you're wrong we'll have to confound your whole street" Draco reprimanded.

"Wouldn't be the first time" Hermione said with an attempted smile.

"Alright, you try" Draco said holding out his hand. He had no idea what she meant by it not being the first time. Hermione took his elbow tentatively and they disappeared from the ministry with a crack.

"It worked" Hermione said as they appeared before her townhouse. She looked down the street unsurely, not wanting to have been caught. But it seemed that they were indeed alone on the small suburban street, curtains were closed all about. "Come on" Hermione said as she pulled Draco towards the door. She pointed her wand at the lock but nothing happened. She tried again, still nothing.

"How are we going to get in now?" Draco groaned. He smacked his head with the palm of his hand. He was feeling a migraine coming on from today.

"Silly purebloods…" Hermione muttered as she searched her bag, "How about a key?" she asked "I'm sure no wizard would have thought of that"

Draco crossed his arms skeptically, if her home was so well guarded, then why the hell would they forget to change the lock? But he realized that even he hadn't considered using a key to get in. She was probably right. And she was, the door clicked open with the turn of the key and Hermione walked in.

"Oi" she whispered as they stepped into her living area. Draco was sure that her house was beautiful before, the deep floors and the thick tapestries…but now it all lay thrown about and smashed. They walked inside completely and shut the door. "Well this sucks" Hermione frowned.

"I don't get it" Draco muttered, "I still don't understand why they are trying to distract us from getting the case going. I mean, if this happened to your house…do they really think it would have been the people on the other measly list? Although a Quidditch team is probably capable of the mess, I can't see what the point would be" Draco mused.

"Distracting me…" Hermione muttered, "Distracting me from what?"

They continued about the house silently, Draco would pick things up and straighten others. It was hopeless though, nothing could help her home now. Finally when the first floor was scouted Hermione stopped at the stairs. "I guess we're going up" she said to Draco. He nodded.

She climbed the stairs slowly, feeling as though the house may not have been just empty yet.

Thirteen years since Harry, Ron and I met. Thirteen years since Draco Malfoy began teasing me, which is how many years I have defined myself as a book lover. Thirteen years to mark the trio's never-ending friendship, ha! The lucky number of years that have kept us as close as siblings and as distant as possible for the things we've faced. Thirteen.

Six years. Six entire years since I graduated from Hogwarts, it was my one and only real home. Six damn years since everything went normal; uneasily silent. Six whole years of waiting for something to implode…well it has.

It's been four years since I've been working at the Ministry. Two years of dull apprentice work, but two of gratifying Auror work. Four years of walking by him in the hall. That's how many years he bided silently, unable to approach me.

Three years Ron and I had been engaged. Two years of _bliss _and watching him play for the Cannons. Two years of having a stable relationship to fall back on. Two years of Harry and Ginny's soft and pleased looks, as though they had created the love themselves. Deux.

One year. It has been one year since Ron has been ignoring me. For a whole year he never came home. Always training or on some tournament. And when he did come home, he wouldn't stay long, he would not touch me. He was tired. He would not have me at all. For a whole year I slept alone in all ways. What a wasted year.

A single month since Ron and I finished. A month of tears and wondering what I had done wrong. A small month stretched to eternity to show me how undesirable I am. One month all too much for my taste, I don't do well with self-pity.

A week since Draco smiled at me. It was a real smile, and it was directed at me. But all it held was an empathy that I did not need. Nonetheless it was a smile. As miniscule and timid as it was, his lips stretched lightly and parted. It has been a week since he smiled at me.

Four days since Draco and I have become friends. He offered it to me, and I took it for fear of never again having such a kind offer.

Two days Ron has been dead. It seems fitting in a way. I died for him; it should only make sense that he die for me. Even in his death, he leaves me broken and hurt. He leaves for me only a lifetime of pain and suffering, he leaves me no chance of absolution.

An hour since I realized my greatest fear in life. To be completely unacknowledged and alone. I think I am. I think I have been erased, no matter what Draco says. I think Harry no longer remembers what we lived through together. I think I might be losing the memories too.

Not even a mere minute since I found the blood on my white carpet. The blood that was everywhere…whose blood?

Hermione recited this all under her breath while she tried to grasp what she was seeing. Blood, blood on her white walls, on her white carpet, on her white life; it stained her.

"Oh Jesus" Draco whispered rooted to his spot. What the hell had happened here?

Hermione walked slowly to her own room, the trail of blood seeming to look positively absurd in her white environment. Like a vision. She pushed her door open and frowned; it was the only expression she could make. Pools and pools of blood about her room. The smell was sickening, she could even taste the metal on her tongue, she could feel it burning her nostrils.

"Mudblood, you deserve more than you could ever know. Mudblood here's those who bore you to know. Here's the dead, those you love displayed to show" Hermione read silently. Her white walls were ruined. Funny how this was the only thought on her mind as she red the message in blood on her wall. Unoriginal, very…but the effect was quite enough.

The rage was slowly building in her. Like a kettle waiting patiently. She quipped her witty comments to herself as she waited. The burn started in her feet and slowly rose up into her chest, then to her eyes. And all she saw was red.

Hermione screamed. It was like nothing she had ever heard come from her lips. It was a terrifying animalist sound that did not feel like it came from her body. It must have come from someone else altogether.

Draco ran into the room and first saw Hermione who was standing in the middle of the room, rigid as possible, her fists clenched tightly, and screaming. Then his eyes traveled to the wall.

Hermione couldn't see, was it possible she had actually gone blind with rage? She ran to her desk, feeling the need to destroy. She pushed it over, it crashed to the floor. Ink splattered, papers flew. She opened her closet and tore out her clothing. Running to the wall madly she tried to rub the words away, but they remained. She cried out again and threw the cloths onto the ground desperately; she watched them soak up the blood on her carpet.

Draco watched frozen in his place. There was nothing he could do but watch whatever remained of her heart rip and tear in agony. There was nothing to do, but to watch Hermione crash and burn. Blaze in her tears, wearing her away…what an end. Draco let out a shaky breath.

Hermione gabbed the lamp from her beside table, which her mother had bought her…which her mother had given her for Christmas last. Where was her mother now? Not here for her. And she smashed it right in front of her. It amazingly broke right at her feet. Pieces of the glass flew up and hit her, they cut her. Hermione fell to the ground.

There's blood on her hands and her skirt. As she lies on the floor, weeping with her parents, scooping the blood into her hands desperately. But the sun doesn't hide; the wind doesn't stop blowing for her pain. No one stops breathing, not even for a moment. People continue to smile, to argue and cry, regardless of her pain.

Draco walked over to her and sat next to Hermione on the carpet, feeling the wetness soak into his clothing. Draco took her hands in his and held them tightly, feeling the slickness of her bloody fingers in his. He closed his eyes, maybe it isn't real.

Hermione followed him, she shut her own eyes. She doesn't want it to be real. It can't be real. Maybe she's dreaming, or perhaps…maybe she's in hell. But everything else in the world must be right. This can't be the end. No, it's not the end, but it is the bottom.

Draco pulled her to him and held her tightly. Silence, complete silence greeted him. The world knows no grief. The world doesn't care for grief. "Hermione…" he whispered tensely, but he didn't know what else to say. Words could do little now.

* * *

"This would be a good time to introduce to you the trainee for the case" Kingsley said in a strangled tone. He had received an alert, Granger was at her home. Things were going downhill quickly. 

"Trainee?" Harry asked in surprise "I don't think it's the right case for a trainee" he said coolly. He was livid, with himself and Kingsley, for their complete stupidity of the situation. Hermione was at home.

"Not your decision" Kingsley muttered "It's mine"

"I can't be here right now; I need to go see Hermione…" Harry turned to leave Kingsley's office, "You know it wasn't right to withhold that information from her… you know it was wrong. I think she's hates me now" Harry whispered, he shut Kingsley's door behind him silently.

He had hurt Hermione…more than he knew. He had definitely lost her now. How on earth could he be forgiven for such a sin as this? Hermione had drifted from him too far, he missed her everyday. Even when he sat next to her at lunch. No, Harry needed to hold her in his arms. He needed her love and she needed his. He needed to understand her again.

He passed the blonde haired girl sitting outside of Kingsley's office silently. She had no idea what she was in for. And Harry didn't know what Kingsley as playing at. He was going to hurt a lot of people in the process…for his own gain. Harry turned around quickly, "You!" he said pointing at the girl. She looked awfully young to be in training. She jumped in her chair at being addressed so crudely. "You're up, and good luck" Harry said coolly. He watched her blink her green eyes twice before she hesitantly rose from her chair. She looked about ready to say something to him, but her voice didn't make it. She opened the door and slipped inside.

It was time to go pay a visit to Hermione and plead for forgiveness. Forgiveness Harry didn't really expect to receive. Hermione was kind, but he had betrayed her. Her best friend had betrayed her…and there were still more secrets to come undone.

* * *

**A/N:** This song inspired most of the chapter, so I thought I'd give it a bit of credit and stick it up. It's called "Best Not To Think About It" by Athlete. And...yeah, next chapter will be lots of fun, a brand new trainee to stir up some hell. Sorry for confusing everyone, but things will get clearer eventually, it is a mystery after all. I can't just spill all of the sectrets right away. 

_He sees the flames in her tears_

_Sketching on her skin and he knows _

_That it's come to an end _

_And it's no point pretending it's not _

_And it's a long way down, a long way down from here _

_And it's a long way down, a long way down from here _

_So she smashes the glass and there's blood on her hands and her skirt _

_There's the wind and a sun,a fresh air in her lungs once again and it's a long way down, a long way down from here _

_And it's a long way down, a long way down from here _

_So he closes his eyes and thinks 'maybe I'll be surprised if I do I just might fall into another realm _

_And make another home there with you' _

_And it's a long way down, a long way down from here and it's a long way down, a long way down from here_

_It's best not to think about it just put your arms around me_

_It's best not to think about it just put your arms around me _

_It's best not to think about it just put your arms around me, oh_


	8. The Days Are Not Full Enough

**Chapter Eight: The Days Are Not Full Enough**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter. The name of the poem used is 'The Days Are Not Full Enough' and it is written by Ezra Pound. It is also the title of the chapter.

* * *

Draco could not tell for how long he had been sitting on the floor with Hermione. Time had passed his eyes so long ago. All he knew was that he was damp with blood. It dried and caked upon his body, seeping into his skin. The blood of her parents, Hermione's own blood, he felt like he was dirtying her blood.

And she sat there. She sat like a ghost. Her breathing soft and slow, oh so deliberate, her hands in her lap, trembling with every painful thought that crossed her mind. Tears had dried long ago on her face, and now there were only small white trails running down her cheeks.

The wall was ugly; the letters looked like giant gashes on otherwise flawless skin. But outside the sky was beautiful. From the window behind Hermione Draco could see an atmosphere splattered with stars. The sky seemed much lowed tonight, as though everything descended. Above her work desk were poems, beautifully framed in ornate black casings.

_And the days are not full enough_

_And the nights are not full enough_

_And life slips by like a field mouse _

_Not shaking in the grass_

How pretty, written by some Pound or other. But it seemed hauntingly fitting for the current situation. The days were not full enough; in fact every day seemed to be emptier than the last. The nights were slowly siphoning off everyone who made the worthwhile memories last.

Draco sighed and turned to look back at Hermione, he would wait for her. He needed to. She needed him.

As though hearing his thoughts she spoke quietly to her lap "You can leave, you don't really need to be here with me. It's my problem".

"No, I'm not leaving without you Hermione, because you are my _problem_, it is my problem whenever you are hurt" he promised sternly "I won't abandon you, and I hope you don't think so little of me to assume I would".

Hermione nodded and raised her head looking around the room. She grimaced, as though she remembered a particularly gruesome inside joke, "Draco, I think I'd like to go anyway" she said, surprising him.

"Yeah?"

"Please"

Draco stood, his knees popped with the weight, he had been sitting for too long. He bent down and carefully picked Hermione up by her elbows. He slipped an arm around her waist and led her out of the room. She didn't look back, and neither did he. Nothing could be done in this home anymore.

* * *

He slowly set her on the edge of the tub in her underwear. "Can you manage?" he asked awkwardly. As hard as he was trying to be sensitive and caring, it didn't stop Hermione from looking attractive, and nothing he did could prevent him from looking at her body. 

Hermione's lips quivered for a moment, "Can you please not leave me?" she pleaded grabbing his arm.

"I won't" Draco promised, "I'll be right outside, when you are done undressing…" his words faded. Draco picked up her clothing and handed it to his elf Rudy who was patiently waiting by the sink. He then slipped outside of the bathroom, and leant against the wall, steadying his mind.

He was filthy himself. No…no…he was not filthy…nor dirty… he was _uncomfortable_. He had never imagined the irony of being covered in muggle blood, but the blood of someone he cared for deeply. This was Hermione's blood drying in the crevices of his fingerprints. Her blood he tasted and smelt.

"Draco?" she called softly "Come back".

He entered the bathroom; she was lying in the tub, exhausted, the bubbles above already tinged with pink. "Do you mind if I…?" he asked motioning to the shower. He didn't want Hermione to feel uncomfortable around him.

"No I don't care; I really don't want you to leave. So please shower here" she smiled waveringly. Draco nodded, it was the only motion he could muster. There was such a feeling of misery devouring him. Draco had not been this miserable since he had lost his mother, he had not felt such pain since then…and this pain seemed to be even deeper. His mother had left for her own peace. But there was a mocking tone in every breath of his that told him this pain would not leave. This pain would remain as the ache in his bones.

He stripped down and stepped into the shower, not even bothering to check if Hermione was looking. It didn't matter anyway, she could look if she wanted to, but Draco knew she was far to preoccupied in her own thoughts to even notice him. He turned the water on; making sure it was boiling hot and then began to wash.

The water ran red and swirled about the drain by his feet. It splattered on his porcelain walls and glass doors, leaving small red flecks all about him. He scrubbed until the water ran clean and his skin was a bright red. He rubbed until the taste and smell was gone, and all he could taste and smell was soap.

After deeming himself _comfortable_ Draco dressed pulling on his pajama's as his eyes remained focused on the back of Hermione's head. She was staring out of the large window at the end of the tub, her curls falling over the edge of the tub. The window had the same view as the one from his room. The gardens looked terribly bleak in the evening, when the gorgeous colour was drained by the dark they seemed to be no more than overgrown weeds.

Hermione sighed softly and lifted a hand gently out of the water, Draco watched as the bubbles slid down her fingers, stopping right at the tips before falling back into the water. She seemed too relaxed to him, oddly content with her situation.

The bathroom was dark, Draco light the candles surrounding the walls and went to sit by Hermione. He sat himself on the floor by her right.

"So…this is what it's like to lose your parents" she deduced sadly.

"It's not easy" Draco replied, not exactly giving her the answer she wanted "It will bring you down further than you know…everything becomes rather sad".

"I-…I'm not sad"

"No?"

"No. I know I should be…but I just don't have anymore grief to draw from my pathetic well" she frowned "I didn't dig deep enough; I never expected I should need so much in my life".

"Poetically put" Draco said appreciatively. Hermione's face was blank, but somewhat confused in the soft light. She was working through things.

"Where are their bodies?" she asked.

"I don't know…I think Kingsley probably knows" Draco suggested.

"Yeah…"

"Are you hungry?" Draco asked kindly, wanting to give her what comforts he could.

"No. Not at all" Hermione said with a rueful chuckle. She turned to face Draco, "I just want to sleep" she admitted, "And I wouldn't mind if I never woke up"

"Don't be a drama queen Hermione" Draco said reprovingly. Her comment had scared him. What a horrible way for her to think.

She shrugged, "I think I'm done" she said simply, sitting up in the tub and grabbing a towel from beside her. That was it, Hermione was done it seemed. In more ways than one, she was ready to move on as best she could.

Draco's eyes wandered back to the giant window overlooking the grounds of his home in his attempt to avoid the sight of Hermione's body. Those gardens had been his mothers, her pride and joy. The only thing she had ownership of in her life. The only thing Lucius had given her that she loved, besides Draco himself, but her gardens had never betrayed her as Draco had. He wished he had been able to show his mother just how much he loved her before she died. But he never got the chance. His mother had assumed to the end that he was still a deatheater. Draco had never been able to tell her he was a spy… Hermione never got the chance to show Weasley that she still loved him after the horrible things she had said. This baggage never left him, he had just learnt to strap it to his back everyday and carry on uphill. Hermione would have to do the same.

"I need cloths" Hermione said quietly from the door, standing in her towel. Draco blinked in surprise; he stood awkwardly and walked towards her. He had almost forgotten that she was with him. Her silence felt like an absence.

"Just a moment" he said walking past her, he exited the room.

Hermione watched him go sadly. She was a burden for him, this was not friendship; this was dependence. She depended on him and expected Draco to carry her along because she could not hold herself straight. But who did she have anymore? Not even her parents; Draco was her only friend. And yet that friendship seemed to hang by a fine thread, what if she loaded him with too much? He would snap and leave. Draco had no loyalty to her, they had barely been getting along for a week and already he was all she had. What if she had not had him? Where would Hermione be now? All alone in her apartment…or probably dead. Hermione was thankful for Draco, but she needed to buck up and leave him alone.

Draco came back into the room and handed her a bundle of cloths. Hermione could feel the smooth silk of the fabric. She walked wordlessly back into the bathroom and pulled on the clothing. Plain cotton underwear and a short nightie. The material was an iridescent sea green; it was like a long t-shirt that reached to her mid thighs. This had been his mothers…Hermione could just feel it. The sent on the clothing was still noticeable, sweet perfume of orchids and vanilla lingered. Hermione traced her fingers down the dress to the lace hem; she could see Narcissa wearing this. And Draco had given this to her…when he could have given her anything else…

Hermione stepped back into the room; she crawled into the bed and sighed loudly looking at Draco expectantly. There was a hesitance on his face.

"Hermione, I need time to sort some things out, I'll just see you in the morning, okay?" Draco said from the door, he was shifting from foot to foot. Hermione wanted him to stay, but she knew better.

"Okay" she agreed. Draco strode quickly over to her in apparent relief; he grabbed her face in his hands and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. Hermione could feel the tenderness and emotion in his touch; she knew he wasn't abandoning her.

"If you need me…just call on any of the house elves and they'll get me" he said. Hermione nodded. "Night" he added. Again, that absence of the '_good__' _seemed more significant than either let on.

"Night" Hermione replied. Draco turned off the lights and closed the door, leaving Hermione alone in the dark, with only her thoughts for company.

"Who's here?" Draco asked Rudy who was standing right outside of the door, waiting patiently for his master.

"Mr. 'Arry Potter sir" Rudy said in a soft tone, twisting his towel in his long fingers.

"Don't let him in Rudy, I don't care how he threatens, as long as he is outside that door then none of those threats can come true" Draco said harshly, "Even if the ministry comes knocking, allow no one in. Turn off all of the lights, we are not home".

"Yes master" Rudy said with a sweeping bow, and then he cracked away.

Draco sighed and ran a hand through his wet hair. He needed time to mull over things and sleep, without the prevailing thought of Potter's influence on Hermione pestering his mind.

* * *

Draco knocked on her door gently, not wanting to startle her. He knocked again after a few moments of no reply. Draco opened the door slowly and peeked around the corner, a bundle remained in the bed. He entered her room silently, not bothering to close the door behind him. It wasn't really that late, it was barely eight, but he would not allow her to remain in bed. There were things of immense importance that needed to be discussed right away.

"Hermione?" he asked sitting down on the edge of her bed. She was curled up into a ball with a pillow between her knees. Her cheeks were free of salt stains, at least she had not cried all night. "Please get up" Draco said placing a hand on her shoulder and gently shaking her.

She opened her eyes groggily; they were such a plain brown. All of her was lifeless in the bright morning sun, her skin, her hair, her once pink lips now blended flawlessly with the rest of her skin. Hermione was translucent.

"We need to talk about some things" he said gently.

Hermione sniffled and sat up; she threw the pillow between her legs to the edge of the bed and took in a deep rattling breath. "I thought about everything last night" she said evenly as she pulled the night dress down from her butt to her knees.

"Yeah?"

"I thought about my life as of so far. And I thought about all of the people I've lost in my life, but… I think I've forgotten to be grateful for the people who remain in my life" she said as though it was a rehearsed speech. "I've only been worried about how much has left me, that I've never appreciated what I had. After the war, all I could think about were the people who died, my friends…that I didn't really feel thankful for Harry and Ron, or for my parents…"

"That's how it works Hermione, you don't notice your friends and family while they are around, you only begin to truly appreciate them when they are lost to you" Draco agreed.

"I appreciate you" Hermione said quietly.

"As I you" Draco said gently placing a reassuring hand on Hermione's knee "Potter appreciates you too, even though he doesn't show it as often"

Hermione looked up in surprise. "He was here last night, demanding to see you, but I didn't let him in. So I thought you might want to see him today?" Draco asked.

"Yeah" Hermione sighed. She crawled out of the giant bed and headed to the bathroom "I have much to ask him"

Draco watched the door close and fell back on the bed with a loud yawn.

* * *

"Hermione!" Harry cried in relief as he ran towards her. Hermione put her hand out, palm vertical. Harry stopped suddenly.

"How are you Harry?" she asked coolly.

"I'm dreadful, how about you?" he said sincerely.

"I feel better now that I know you're suffering" Hermione replied.

She and Harry stood in Draco's drawing room. Draco himself was across the hall in the kitchen, waiting patiently, giving Hermione space to deal with Harry. Hermione moved to the chaise and sat down rigidly.

"Hermione, I owe you a mountain of apologies…" Harry began unsurely, sitting down across from her in an armchair.

"Well then, let's start from the beginning" Hermione sniffed "Why have you practically been ignoring me for six years?" she asked coolly.

"What do you-?"

"Ever since the final battle you've distanced yourself from me Harry, and just from me. You still talked about it to Ginny and Ron…but not to me…" Hermione said softly.

"I just…I just thought you had enough to deal with yourself…" Harry began lamely.

"But then! Then it became even worse, you would only talk to me as though it was a friend from work Harry. You never talked about anything personal with me. You talked about your children, you talked about Ginny…you talked about everything but how you felt. And you weren't interested in how I felt. Then for that whole year that Ron was practically cheating on me you _knew_! Don't tell me otherwise Harry! You avoided me as much as he did" she spat lividly. Not even giving Harry a chance to say anything she continued harshly "Then you all blamed me for driving him away! You never called me Harry. That whole year I slept alone, I woke alone, I walked alone, and you and Ginny never bothered to call your best friend and ask her how she was, engaged and alone! Then you all blamed me for his death…What happened to us Harry? You used to love me and I used to love you too. We used to be so close, I could tell you anything. But now I wouldn't share the contents of my breakfast with you. We used to know one another; we used to be…siblings. There was a time we were ready to die for each other, and I think I'd still die for you. But you pulled away from me, and I don't know why. I can't understand why. You betrayed me, lied to me so many times. And not telling me about my parents" Hermione now stood menacingly; Harry could see the tears in her eyes "That was _low_ Harry. You just hit bottom there. Instead of coming to me, and telling me, consoling me, being my best friend, the _brother_ I never had…you lied to me…you broke my heart Harry" she dropped back down on the chaise and proceeded to cry.

Harry didn't know what to do. There was a time where he would have consoled Hermione, held her and kissed her better. There was a time when none of this would have occurred because he would have had Hermione's interests at heart, and not the Ministry's. But at this moment he was at a loss. There was nothing he could do but watch her heart break before him. He stood awkwardly and sat down next to her. "Hermione, I realize no amount of grief can make you forgive me, but I'd like to try again for you…I miss you. I do…but I was just so blinded with work and my own family that I forgot about how you felt" he admitted.

"You forgot about all of the things we went through together too?" Hermione asked softly, "Did you forget how I saved you from death, did you forget about how it took all three of us to save the wizarding world, how we all…we all…passed through those horrors together? As sad as it seems, those were the best times of my life" she sniffled.

"I never forgot those things, but I wanted to Hermione. I just wanted to forget everything after that final battle and go on in my life as a normal person" Harry said.

"Harry, you're not normal. And I think you did a very good job at forgetting. You would come into work and talk to me like I was a mere colleague, even behind closed doors you would never joke with me, or ask me what was new. You would never console me when I had a fight with Ron, even if you were on his side at heart. You're fucking erasing me Harry. It's like we were never as close as we once were. I might as well be your secretary, because that's how you treat me" she whispered angrily.

Harry could hear the apparent anger in her tone. He had not realized she was so bitter over something so trivial. "I just wanted to be normal; I didn't _want_ to talk about the things we went through, if that's all this is about…" Harry frowned.

"It's not about that Harry! Perhaps I needed to talk about those things; perhaps I needed you and Ron to help me through. Who else could I talk to, nobody else knew! I was completely alone, trying to piece together my pathetic little life while you and Ron had it all figured out. But you did more than deny what happened, you began to deny me and who I was. You _never_ asked me how I was feeling! That simple little question was never directed at me! You didn't even let me delude myself into thinking you cared. Don't you understand?" she cried standing up "How do you explain that?"

"I-…"

"I thought so…" Hermione said sadly, "listen Harry, if you don't want to be friends with me, if you don't want to be reminded... If you can't find it in your heart to remember how we used to be…then I don't want to know you at all. Because it hurts to see you everyday and to know that you don't see me as you once did. I can't take it anymore. I'll get a transfer, I'll leave; I'll do anything to get away from you"

"You don't mean that" Harry said incredulously.

"I do, I mean it Harry. Figure out how to get back to old Harry, or just say goodbye to me now" Hermione said firmly.

"I-…"

"Think about it" she said finally, and then she turned and walked out of the drawing room leaving the door swinging behind her. Harry sighed and placed his head in his hands. What now?

* * *

Draco was at work, yet again. He had left Hermione to handle Potter. She had her wand should anything go awry and he was needed at work for something or other. Kingsley had flooed him to come in right away. Draco had barely even woken up, he had not wanted to come into work today…of all days. It was a Friday and he wasn't prepared to do anything constructive.

"What?" Draco asked opening Kingsley's office door without even knocking. He was more than disgruntled this morning, and it showed on his face and wrinkled clothing.

"Sit" Kingsley said sternly. He was displeased with Draco's behavior towards him as of late. It wasn't Kingsley's fault all of this crap was happening. And much less his fault that Percy Weasley was off on vacation and he was forced to handle Auror duty. Aurors were worse than the Department of Magical Sports and Games. Kingsley squeezed the bridge of his nose and tried to calculate all of his thoughts.

Draco's eyes glanced over to the girl in the other chair, his frown turned into a grimace "Who is she?" he asked coldly, still remaining fixed at the door.

"Your intern, now sit the hell down" Kingsley said angrily "I won't take this kind of impertinence from my employees".

Draco rolled his eyes and sat down in the other chair ignoring the nervous blonde girl; she was a squirmy as a damn mouse. "This is Haleigh, she's your intern for the case" Kingsley said simply.

Draco's mouth dropped open. "I hardly think this case is applicable for an intern" he spat angrily, "Don't I get a say in this, doesn't Granger?"

Being told the same thing twice in less than a day did not sit well with the Minister of Magic, "Yes well, between the two of us, I am Minister, so shut it and do as I say! You are responsible for her teaching and her safety. And she will be with you until the case is solved, so I suggest you and Miss Granger become acquainted with…uh…What is your name again?" Kingsley asked apologetically.

"Haleigh Yule-Reese" the girl said softly, she didn't even dare to look in Draco's direction; her eyes were permanently fixed on her hands in her lap. Draco couldn't blame the girl, she didn't know any better, and she had no idea what she was coming in to. But he could blame Kingsley, and Hermione would be sure to blow a gasket when she heard about Haleigh.

"How old are you?" Draco asked incredulously.

"I'm nineteen! Almost twenty!" she replied indignantly, the first real spark in her voice.

Draco looked back to the minister, disbelief and anger shrouding his face. "Fine" he spat standing up, he couldn't do anything about it but get fired. There was no point in arguing, he needed his job. Perhaps he could force as much paperwork as possible on the girl to keep her nose out of the mess. Kingsley never said she had to be directly involved in the case. "You!" Draco yelled pointing at Haleigh.

She jumped in the air, shock ringing through her face. Was that how everyone greeted interns around here? Harry Potter had done the same to her yesterday. Perhaps it was time to rethink what she wanted to do with her life...perhaps healing?

"Malfoy Manor, tomorrow morning, at eight sharp!" he demanded, "The house elves will let you in".

"Yes sir" she whispered in awe. Draco Malfoy was such an entity. And she was going to be in his presence. It was the dream coming true… he had captured many death eaters single handedly. And he was attractive to boot. Was there someone else on the case too? Granger he said… Hermione Granger? Oh…

Draco cast a last angry glance at Kingsley and then exited the office swiftly; Hermione was waiting for him back home and he didn't have time to waste on idiots. If he didn't hurry, Draco might find Potter dead on his Persian rugs. The cleaning would cost more than his weekly pay.

* * *

"Um…sir. I don't think he likes me much" Haleigh said unsurely after the door had closed behind Draco. Things seemed very tense between everyone, what was she coming in to? Was it worth it?

"Oh, don't worry about Malfoy; if I were you I'd be worried about Granger. She'll be a real piece of work" Kingsley said offhandedly looking through papers.

"You know, perhaps he's right, maybe this isn't such a good idea-" Haleigh began but was cut off abruptly.

"DISSMISSED!" Kingsley yelled loudly. Haleigh having accidentally touched his last nerve with her comment. Haleigh ran out of the office, clutching her jacket and purse to her chest and hoping she still had her job.


	9. Withered Husk of Some Dead Memory

**Chapter Nine:**** Withered Husk ****of**** Some Dead Memory**

**Disclaimer: **These are really getting boring. No, I solemnly swear I do **not** own Harry Potter. Poem at the end is of course, by Ezra Pound and is titled "In a Station of the Metro". I shouldn't be making a habit of this, but I thought perhaps people would like to know what inspires my chapters.

* * *

Her face was completely blank. For a moment Draco was not sure if he should repeat himself, perhaps she had not heard. She simply kept her eyes somewhere near his second button, at the bottom of his throat, right before his collarbone. Near closed and unreadable.

"I suppose it won't matter if we protest" she said thoughtfully.

"No it won't" Draco agreed.

"Did he say anything else?" she asked, her eyes raised the length of another button.

"Erh…"

"Did he say anything about my parents? Perhaps about my safety, about why he lied or why he wants to hurt me so badly with the things he does? Does Kingsley care?" Hermione asked sadly.

"Hermione, I don't know" Draco grimaced running his hand through his hair "But I'm extremely worried. These people went after your parents. They…" he suddenly stopped. Unsure of what to say. Had they killed her parents? Where her parents were was the better question. He had not even thought to ask Kingsley. Were they kidnapped?

"Are they dead?" Hermione asked voicing his concern.

"I…I didn't ask Kingsley, I was so angry, it just slipped my mind" he stuttered in shame. How could he have forgotten something so important?

"I think they are" she whispered solemnly, but seriously, there was no betraying emotion in her tone.

"No, Hermione, why do you say that?" Draco asked in distress. He leaned forward in his chair and leant across the kitchen table towards her.

"Draco, if they were alive. There would not have been a death threat for me on the wall. There would have been a ransom note. In exchange for Harry I could have them back. But what was written on the wall…the blood…" she gagged slightly, her hand flying over her mouth "that is indicator enough"

"Hermione, could you please not be doing your job right now" Draco sighed tiredly.

"I can't help it, this is how I think. And doing my job might save me" she frowned. Her eyes rose again, now she was staring at his chin.

Twenty-four years she had lived on earth with her parents. Two loving dentists. Kind hearted, loved by the community, understanding. People you would be glad to call your neighbors.

Thirteen of those years they had known about her magic. They had bought everything for her, supported her. Loved her for being special. Even though they could not understand her world, they appreciated it.

A year ago her parents had been there for her while she cried about Ron. Through her toughest times they stuck by her. Regardless of whether she was right or wrong. Her mother had comforted her, her father threatened to wring Ron's neck.

Three months ago her father had actually attempted to strangle Ron after hearing that he left her for some blonde.

Five days ago was the last time she had seen them. At dinner, they had laughed about what happened on Hermione's first day of Muggle School. They had eaten meatloaf. She had divulged to her mother about how Draco Malfoy, the boy who hated her throughout school had asked her to coffee and how it had been more pleasant that she had thought. Her mother had smiled and suggested that perhaps he liked her more than Hermione knew. Hermione had told her mother than people rarely changed. Her mother had disagreed.

And now, after calculating all of the time she had spent with her parents. Hermione found that it was not enough. Her father would never walk her down the aisle; her mother would never baby her children. That was…if Hermione even got to do those things herself…

"Hermione"

This time her eyes rose right to his. And Draco felt as though he was punched in the gut. While her body was cool and composed, her eyes ran wild. Pain and confusion raced through them, tears perpetually threatened to drop but rarely did. She was really hurting, and Draco did not feel as though he could help. How could she possibly deal with their deaths when her own impending death hung heavily above her? What could have been going through her mind? Draco could not even understand how Hermione managed to stand, breath, and talk with such grief. For when his own mother had died, Draco had not risen out of his bed for a month. He had contemplated suicide, for he was truly alone then. He had sobbed and sobbed until he realized that his mother had passed on to a better life than the one she had been living.

But Hermione parents had not. They had been taken from a wonderful life, a beautiful daughter and her future. They still had much more to live for in their vibrant hearts. They had not been dead inside like his own mother had. They had not deserved death like his father. It was the epitome of tragedy.

And now Hermione, all alone herself. In the same position he had been in months ago. Without her fiancé, her best friends, or family. Hermione was alone to deal with their tragic demises. Even Potter was dead to her. But if nothing else, Hermione had him. And Draco knew he could never walk away from this brave young woman. For as miniscule as he thought his friendship to her was, he knew Hermione was relying on him now. She had opened her arms to him, accepted him after everything he had done to her, she had helped him first, and now it was his turn to return the favor. He took her hand gently, and held it on the table.

"Will this pass too?" she asked wryly.

"Everything passes eventually, the good and the bad" he said wisely.

* * *

Kingsley Shacklebolt was rubbing his eyes.

Harry Potter sat nervously in the cool office.

"Tell her to leave it alone Potter"

"You know Hermione, telling her to leave it alone will do nothing but fuel her further" Harry frowned, unable to believe Kingsley knew Hermione so little.

"Then we're taking her off the case and placing her in a safe house" Kingsley muttered.

Harry's frown deepened. Okay, Kingsley barely knew Hermione at all. "I don't think that will help. She'll just end up going after these people anyway" he admitted.

"Is there anything we can do?" Kingsley asked in annoyance.

Today had not been his day. The ministry was on his back; somehow they had caught wind of the Granger's deaths. Now they were claiming that Weasley's death was a conspiracy and that the Grangers were included. It was becoming messy, and frighteningly accurate. Kingsley had no quote to give; anything he said could be misconstrued. So he avoided Rita Skeeter and her followers at all cost. He had been questioned about Granger's safety earlier. And tomorrow was Weasley's funeral. The burrow was sure to be packed with reporters. No wards could keep them out. And in his office, there was a downward spiral as people kept dying and he did not know what to do.

These people were clean, they were careful. They left no clues, no markings. The missing deatheaters were nowhere to be seen. Gallons were lost on information for fake sightings. Kingsley had no lead; there was nothing he could do.

"There's so little we can do. Beside keep tabs on her and make sure that she's safe" Harry said resignedly.

"We'll need someone on her at every moment of the day, perhaps we can draw out these people…"

"No, we're not using Hermione as bait. I thought I made that terribly clear. When they couldn't find her, they went and murdered her parents to draw her out. We're damned if we let her walk around alone and she gets attacked. And just as damned if we hide her away. Then people will begin dropping like flies until she comes out" Harry said in frustration "Just leave her alone. Let her do what she wants. Hermione is a smart girl; she can take care of herself. But just in case I'm going to tell O'Conner to follow her" Harry stood and took his jacket off the chair.

"What do you plan to do about these people Potter? You realize this won't go away on its own. They want you dead, and they'll stop at nothing to get you in the ground. Then who knows what will happen, perhaps a new dark lord" Kingsley said coolly.

"I don't plan to do much other than my job. But between the two of us, _you're_ the Minister, perhaps you should _do_ something" Harry spat. He turned on his heel and walked out of the office.

* * *

"Their bodies are at St. Mungo's" Hermione said quietly as Draco walked into the kitchen. She was sitting at the island with an owl in hand and a plain look upon her face.

"What are you going to do?" Draco asked unsurely. He walked over to the counter and poured himself and Hermione coffee.

"Give them a proper burial by Sunday" Hermione replied.

"Weasley's is tomorrow, are you going to go?" Draco asked coming to sit down by her on a bar stool and handing her a mug. He held his own mug protectively in his hands and kept his eyes on the dark liquid rather than on Hermione.

"Yeah, I'm going. On a Wednesday too…" she whispered… "You know we were supposed to get married tomorrow" Hermione admitted. "Before we broke it off of course. We had planned for May 28th as our wedding day. I hadn't done much preparation, but we had decided it would be at the burrow. And Molly would cater…"

"Do you think-"

"No. I don't think that the Weasley's did it on purpose; I think they just wanted their son to be buried as soon as possible. It's not fair of me to mention it or to think so badly of them" Hermione said.

"Even after Molly Weasley ran you out of their home?" he asked. Not intending to sound mean, but it came off that way nonetheless.

"She was upset. But they used to be nice to me. They used to treat me like their own daughter. If I had known that my relationship with Ron would have brought out all of this pain…I would have never begun it" Hermione said defensively before placing the parchment from St. Mungo's on the counter.

"Really?" Draco inquired. He couldn't believe that at all.

"I think so. I would rather have lived without him, but had had him alive as my best friend. Then to have lived with him and had him ruin us both" she explained. Draco nodded in understanding. He could see what she meant. Hermione must have really loved him to think as such. Did Weasley love her as much as she thought? It seemed that he did. They way Hermione talked about their first two years together, it sounded like they truly belonged. So what had happened?

"Do you still love him?" Draco asked unsurely. His fingers traced the veins of the marble absent mindedly. He wasn't sure why he wanted to know. It was plain curiosity.

"I do…I love him as a friend, and if he had come back to me…if he had promised he never would have cheated me again… I would have taken him back. I know it sounds like I'm weak, pathetic, a silly girl who should know better. But love hides the imperfections. Even now, I can only see Ron in his glory. Bianca and his coldness are fading into the background" Hermione smiled sadly.

"That's because you don't want to remember what was bad about him. You only want to remember him at his best. This is fair. Besides, no matter how Weasley hurt you. I don't really think he was that bad of a guy at heart" Draco admitted besides himself.

"No, he was brilliant. Kind, protective, supportive…just mislead" Hermione agreed gratefully. Unable to believe Draco would ever admit to such a thing "I can say the same for my parents; I just wish I had spent more time with them. I wish I had gone home for Christmas and Easter break. I wish I had spent the summers with them…"

"You couldn't have known Hermione" Draco said consolingly.

"You can say that now too. I don't know now. How do I know you'll be there for me tomorrow? How am I to know that Harry will ever come back to me? Am I to live in a constant fear of loss?" she asked.

Draco could not reply. It was what he lived with everyday. Clutching desperately to those things he got, for fear of loosing them eventually. He had lost so much in his life too, now he just never expected things to stay. People would leave, luck would turn, hope would fail, it was his life. "I'll be here for as long as I can" he promised.

"How long?"

"God works on no time" he said sadly "but say the word, and I'll wait that long"

"What's the word?" Hermione asked with a fleeting smile "I don't recall you telling me last time"

"Stay"

* * *

Hermione sat on the side of the bed, folders all about her. A highlighter behind her ear, a quill dictating her thoughts silently beside her. Work, she was burying herself in work yet again. She was escaping her feelings all over again. The scratch of the quill and the smell of the marker was all that her brain could process. It calmed her immensely.

"Hermione, pack it up, it's near twelve. Tomorrow the intern arrives at eight. We need to be alert if we plan to do some tracking" Draco said walking in from the bathroom, all prepared for bed.

"Is she pretty?" Hermione asked idly. Her quill stopped suddenly, leaving a large inkblot on the otherwise impeccable parchment.

"Does that matter?" Draco asked with a confused frown, he walked towards his closet. He began to take out clothing for tomorrow. His hands shook as he leafed through his shirts and pants.

"It might" Hermione said. Her quill began to move again, although far more erratically than before.

"I didn't get a good look at her" Draco said tersely. Yes she was pretty, not that it matter in any way. Actually she was very pretty, very fit too…

"She's very pretty, isn't she?" Hermione said; there was no accusation in her tone though. It was all quite pleasant. But for some reason her question twisted knots in his stomach. He did not like it. There was something about Hermione asking that question that made him uncomfortable. He did not want to think about the girl in that way. It seemed wrong. It felt like he was cheating Hermione in some sick twisted frame of mind.

"Listen, pack it all up, and I'll see you tomorrow" he sighed walking to the door, pushing his troubling thoughts away. His shirt and pants folded over his arm.

Hermione's eyes slowly trailed him. Coldness washed over her. She didn't want him to leave. She wanted him to stay, she wanted him to touch her and bring her bones ease.

He stopped at the door and looked back to her. Apprehension on his face, a tremble on his lips.

"Sta-"

Hermione went silent.

"I-"

Draco didn't know what to say.

Hermione's eyes fell back to the bed. She began to place all of the papers back into their binders carefully. Draco watched her work silently for a moment before he walked over to help her. He threw down his cloths and picked up a paper to place it cautiously into the folder. His hand gently brushed hers, and his eyes snapped up to hers, catching her gaze.

Hermione disintegrated to tears, surprising him. "What happened? Are you okay?" he asked in confusion as he placed a hand on her heaving shoulder.

"I want you to stay, but you can't. It's wrong" Hermione cried furiously wiping her eyes, but the tears did not relent. They continued to pour.

"There's nothing wrong about it" Draco amended.

He didn't know. Even Hermione couldn't see that she was beginning to feel. In her stomach a small fire had been lit. Every time Draco walked into the room, her sullen thoughts flew out. Every touch, every smile made her heart swell with relief. He was growing on her immeasurably. And she was letting it happen. She was letting him mean something to her. Hermione couldn't let that happen, what about when he left? What then? She would be left with only heartache. Draco's kindness, his care for her was so important in her life now. And she was only receiving it from him. Hermione was deluding it as love, affection. Unfathomable, maddening, startlingly true love. This was not what Draco was giving her; she needed to squelch the fire before she hurt herself.

"This shouldn't be happening to me" she wept angrily. Crumbling from the inward out, her heart battled with her head. Her heart was playing a loosing battle.

"The grass is always greener on the other side" Draco sighed sitting next to her and wrapping his arm around her shoulder comfortingly. Unaware of Hermione's internal battle, unaware that his touch was only troubling her further. Unaware that she was not talking about what he assumed.

"Can't you see the grass is greener where it rains?" Hermione whispered shrugging off his arm.

Draco frowned sadly. "Yes, I suppose it is" he agreed.

Hermione looked up miserably, "Sleep well Draco" she whispered.

"Night Hermione" he replied. He bit his lip and looked at her for a moment longer. Then he stood up and grabbed his clothing; walking back to the door. He ran his fingers down the wooden frame, words wanting to escape his lips. But he left them unsaid, instead he shut the door.

* * *

Hermione sat awkwardly across from Draco the next morning. There was an unspoken agreement between them to remain silent. Words could only crack their gentle friendship; last night had been so close. Hermione didn't cry; she asked no question, let no emotion betray her stony face.

Draco did not ask her how she was. Instead he placed her black coffee before her and sat down to read his book. He allowed his eyes to do all of the questioning. Hermione's eyes were red, her lips swollen, and face cracked. It was redundant to ask her how she felt. He could see through her like glass. He lowered his eyes to the pages of his book.

The clock ticked unceremoniously in the background. Draco could not remember the last time he had ever heard his clock tick. Never before had the silence been so stifling. In fact, this was the first time he was aware that the clocks in his house even made noise. But he could clearly hear them all; the one in the dining room even overshadowed the one above his head. It set meter to the words that flew before his eyes.

The doorbell rang.

He stood and walked out of the kitchen to answer the door.

Hermione looked up from her mug and her eyes shrewdly observed his book. No matter what mental state she was in, books were books. And she loved them dearly. For some bizarre reason a gnawing curiosity attacked her. She wanted to know what Draco was reading. She felt that perhaps she would understand him better, feel closer to him if she could relate to the words he related to.

She reached across the counter and pulled the book towards herself, careful to not lose his page. Hermione did not want him to know that she had looked at what he was reading. To Hermione, books were a private privilege. A book was an escape, and should never be sullied by another's judgment of the text. She would not judge him.

She opened the book to its title page. The cover was a deep red with faded gold gilding. Her face broke out into a hesitant smile as she read the title page. _A Complete Anthology of the Works of Ezra Pound: First Edition, 1921_Hermione sat in vague disbelief. She was holding a first edition, but it was Malfoy reading it, so it had to be the best. But why was Malfoy reading Pound? A muggle poet?

Well, it was not up to her to judge. In reality her heart was content. He was reading her favorite poems ever. He was reading the words of her life. There was nothing like a connection through love of literature. She placed the book back just as he entered the kitchen.

Hermione jumped from the stool and her eyes landed on the pretty young girl walking apprehensively beside Draco. She was far taller than Hermione, a good few inches and completely different in all other respects. Her hair was sleek and held behind her ears, clear green eyes, and a apprehensive but gracious smile on her lips.

"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger" she said evenly putting her hand out.

The flustered girl put out her own hand "Haleigh Yule-Reese" she replied "Pleasure to meet you Miss Granger"

"Hermione is fine" Hermione replied sourly. She had felt dreadfully old at being addressed as _Miss Granger_.

"I'm sorry for your loss…losses Hermione" Haleigh said solemnly. Hermione had a sudden urge to rip the girl's throat out. But the sincerity in her voice left Hermione motionless. The odd desire in Hermione to hate this girl was inexplicable. She had no reason to be angry. It was not Haleigh's choice to be here, it was not her decision to meddle. No, Kingsley had made that decision for them all.

"Thank you" Hermione said quietly.

"So…I hear we're doing tracking today?" Haleigh asked, turning to Draco for clarification.

"Yeah" he replied rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding her eyes.

Hermione nodded seriously. She walked over to the counter and picked up a few files. She handed them to Haleigh. "Read these while we're in the train" Hermione said.

Haleigh looked confused. "Won't we be apparating?" she asked.

Hermione cocked an eyebrow, "Well, it's difficult to apparate on a moving train. So we'll just have to get on it like any other passengers"

Haleigh opened the first folder and read quickly, "He's supposed to have information on Crabbe?" she asked.

"Yeah" Draco sighed, "It's not the best lead, but anything is a lead right now. Apparently he was seen selling Crabbe family heirlooms a few weeks ago. He might know something. And hopefull we'll be able to corner him in his compartment sometime during the ride. If not, we'll have to follow him to his desitination"

"Alright then, let's go" Haleigh said seriously.

* * *

Hermione stood on the crowded platform; people swirled around her as though they were all joined in some perverse dance. Their bodies clipped and tragic. Suitcases strapped to their backs and held in their hands, they all danced the same twisted fate.

Draco and Haleigh had gone to buy tickets and had left her to stand by the train. Her eyes were covered with a large sunhat. Her shoulders covered with a cream sweater, she was hidden. She looked at people from under the lip of her hat. Searching for the nameless man that had been spotted with Crabbe items.

There were so many people walking around on the platform, that it was impossible to discern one from the other. Faces and colours melted together seamlessly in shades of grey. Her eyes continued to roam about, her brain attempted to keep a clear picture of the man. Blue eyes, brown hair, no older than thirty-five. A medium scar running down the left side of his bottom lip to his chin.

Hermione sighed and straightened her back; she could feel her plates slide back into place. She blinked furiously, attempting to wake herself once more. Her eyes ran across the sea of people and landed on an unmistakable head of blonde hair. Two heads of blonde hair.

Draco and Haleigh walked back towards her. Haleigh was joyful and laughing about something or other that Draco probably said. Draco was smiling shyly in return. Hermione could not recall seeing him smile in the past week. His face was bright and cheerful, his skin luminescent and teeth perfect. All of him was perfect. Her eyes tore from their faces and fell upon her watch. It was nine. She needed to be at the burrow by three for Ron's funeral. Hermione was distracting herself.

She reluctantly lifted her eyes again. A pain settled in her chest at seeing Draco so happy. He never looked that cheerful around her. He only looked tired and annoyed. She wanted him to laugh the same way he laughed right now, but in her presence. Haleigh placed a hand gently on his arm and Hermione could see him blush from ten meters away. Hermione wanted his cheeks to redden with pleasure when she touched him, not to redden with shame.

Her eyes stung unpleasantly. Her heart ached in stupidity. She had no right, she had no claim. It was wrong of her to feel for Draco in such a way when he clearly did not feel the same. It was perverse. He did not deserve to be pulled into her misery. His life could continue in ways hers could not.

His eyes lifted to meet hers. And in the muddle of bodies, swimming from one hell to another, she could only see him. Only his grey eyes were possible. And deafeningly unattainable. Forever to remain a withered husk of some dead memory.

* * *

_The apparition of these faces in the crowd;_

_petals__ on a wet, black bough._


	10. Cut Ties with the Lies

**Chapter Ten****: Cut Ties with the Lies**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Plopper.

Hermione took her ticket from Draco's fingers, but kept her eyes upon their hands. She turned and walked into the train, leaving Draco and Haleigh to follow her. Hermione looked at her ticket and saw that she was in compartment C13. She turned left and headed to the front of the train.

Draco and Haleigh's voices followed her in hushed whispers. It felt like they were talking of her, but Hermione knew better than to be so vain. Not everything was about her.

She could not bear to look Draco in the eyes. For that moment when their eyes had connected, she felt her resolve wither and die. All she had longer to do was to run into his arms. But this was just normal. He was close to her now; he had pulled her out of the shithole she had fallen into. It had to be just a coincidence she had fallen for him. Any man who had helped her in the moment would probably be a god in her eyes right now.

"Sorry" Hermione mumbled as she bumped into a man in the small crowded hallways. She leant against the wall to allow him to pass.

"No problem miss" he replied shortly. Hermione's eyes latched to his half covered face, a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. A long thin line ran down his lip and to his chin. She allowed him to walk away but kept her eyes on the back of his head until he had disappeared into a compartment a few meters down. He kept his head down and did not look around.

Draco and Haleigh had stopped before her. "Hermione?" Draco asked following her gaze "What did you see?" he asked. Hermione looked up at him, and then to Haleigh.

"Nothing" she whispered opening their compartment and sliding in.

"So how do you presume we find him? Should we just scout compartments, accidentally walking in until we find him?" Haleigh asked chew on a quill.

"Too messy and put that away, what if someone was to walk in right now. We're in a muggle train" Draco said pulling the quill from her lips and setting it down in her lap. But he did all of this with a smile, in a kind reproving matter, as though talking to a child. Hermione averted her eyes and looked out the window. "Hermione, what do you think?" he asked.

Hermione shrugged, "I think we should walk about and discretely do tracking charms" she sighed.

Draco pursed his lips, "What if he has wards on his compartment?" he asked. Hermione rolled her eyes and Draco was surprised. She seemed very distant today, avoiding his gaze and his touch. He couldn't understand what she was going through.

"Well, if he has wards on his compartment he'll be the only one won't he, seeing as we're on a muggle train" she said coolly.

Draco could have hit himself for his stupidity. Haleigh was laughing at him and he didn't like it. He reddened considerably; he didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of her. Despite his best intentions he couldn't deny that he was attracted to his intern. But it wasn't really wrong; technically she was only a few years younger than him. So it wasn't wrong by any matter, it was just that he supposed to be training her that was a little weird. But work and pleasure were two different things and surely he could distinguish between the two.

"Should we split up?" Haleigh asked looking between the two oddities. Draco was blushing uncontrollably, who knew what was on his mind. And Hermione looked miserably angry; her whole face was a hard as stone.

"Yes" Hermione replied, "you go with Draco to the right, and I'll head to the left" she said standing.

Draco looked up in confusion, but Hermione appeared to be avoiding his eyes carefully, "If you find him, send a warning message to the others, don't go it alone" she warned. Haleigh nodded, taking every word seriously. Draco was still attempting to catch her eye.

They all exited the compartment.

Hermione watched until Draco and Haleigh went behind the curtain and to another section. She then walked quietly to the compartment where she knew the informant was residing. She waved her wand over the door to make sure it was him, and received a positive reply. She then stood at the door unsurely. She didn't want to call Draco and Haleigh, but she was worried to go it alone. She would be going back on her own orders.

There were too many thought mulling about her head and she could not lay a single one to rest. Her odd attraction to Draco was too fast. It had to be jealously, it was more a matter of loosing him that being with him. Subconsciously she though she would loose him to Haleigh and that he would no longer be her friend. Oh, she was ridiculous!

And Ron, today he would be laid to rest. And in due time she would have to lay him to rest herself. Hermione didn't know that she could give him up just yet, but she knew she would eventually. When this was all over, she would be able to let Ron go.

The compartment door slid open, startling her. "Come in then, you're thinking so loudly I can hear you from inside here" the man said standing before her. He stepped back and allowed her entrance. Hermione gripped her wand in her pocket and entered his compartment. He slid the door shut.

She sat down across from him, wand clearly in her hand, and lips shut tight.

"Ask away love, I know what you are here for" he smiled. Without his hat, Hermione could see that this was a handsome man. Middle age, about thirty, dark unruly hair, and bright blue eyes. Charming all together, and in result, positively terrifying.

"Crabbe" Hermione said simply letting her eyes rake over the man, attempting to remember every detail of his face for later reference.

"Is dead" the man said simply.

"How?" Hermione asked.

"Killed when he attempted to stop me from selling his family items, foolishly jumped out into a public street. Not even a second later he was dead and gone" the man grinned.

"Wasn't aurors" Hermione said with a sniff.

The man laughed, he had a wonderful bright laugh too. No wonder he did so well at selling artifacts. "You think only Aurors wanted Crabbe or any other deatheater dead? Oh no, the deatheaters are trying to do each other in. They are attempting to rid of the weak links before they can reveal any secrets" he explained.

"So it's a race" Hermione sighed tiredly.

"Yup, either you get to those missing deatheaters first, or you'll lose your easiest ones" he clarified.

"I could just weed them out that way, allow them to kill each other off and then find-"

"Honey, you won't know whose dead. You didn't even know Crabbe was dead until I told you" he sighed.

"Why are you being so helpful?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"What do I have to lose; you can't prove I was selling anything. Unless you've taped me, which you haven't, I don't see a recorder on you. And really, deatheaters create better business for me when they're dead. Alive, they are nothing more than a nuisance for me" he shrugged indifferently.

Hermione nodded silently.

"Listen" he said leaning forward, "This is my advice to you love, go after Travers. I have good knowledge that he's been seen in the less popular neighborhoods of Ipswich. He shouldn't be too hard to find, as around the pubs. I think you still have a chance on him if you act quickly, but, by tomorrow evening he could be dead too" he said seriously.

"Do you have anything on these people?" Hermione asked in a whispered leaning closer.

"I don't know much more than you. I know they want you dead, and then they plan to go after Potter. But while it's a deatheater run system, that's not to say that everyone in the business is a deatheater. It's too easy to cover their tracks, there are new participators" he frowned.

"Impossible" Hermione gasped.

"Why?" he asked.

And Hermione knew he had her then.

Draco was less than pleased with her as he followed her up the stairs and to his room, which she had now claimed for her own. Haleigh had left earlier, feeling the tension between the two; she promised to return that evening.

"You went in there and talked to him alone!" he said angrily leaning against the doorframe. He was enraged that Granger placed herself in such danger. Who was she playing with? Acting so reckless and indifferent, it confused him.

"Nothing happened" Hermione muttered looking for her black dress. She was attempting to remain calm and minimize the arguments, for there were sure to be more to come.

"But something could have!" he said in exasperation. She was not seeing his point.

"But nothing did" Hermione repeated stonily. Her calm was wavering.

Draco said nothing, but his lips thinned considerably, he sucked in a deep breath and evened his voice, "Listen you, how do you know anything he said was true?"

"Why, do you think he would have told the truth to you?" she asked contemptuously "I don't think your presence would have helped. I'm sure he wasn't lying. He found me nonthreatening, which is why he could talk to me."

"And that is exactly why you could have been hurt!" Draco exclaimed throwing his hands into the air and walking into the room towards her.

Hermione turned furiously towards him, "BUT NOTHING HAPPENED! WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE?" she screamed wringing her black dress in her hands.

Draco was motionless. His mouth was opening and closing angrily, like a fish. "Why do I care?" he choked out in resentment "Why do I care?" he turned and stomped to the door. "Good question, I guess I don't care. Go to fucking Weasley's funeral on your own and cry on someone else's shoulder, you don't need me for that, you have other friends. BECAUSE I DON'T FUCKING CARE ABOUT YOU!" he screamed slamming the door behind him.

Hermione sniffled.

She sat between Harry and George at the funeral. Molly Weasley was crying quietly to their right, holding to her husbands arm. Hermione was all out of tears, so she sat silently and tried to listen to the service but found herself becoming distracted. She wished Draco was beside her, but he wasn't. And for good reason. She had spilt her doubts all on him, unkindly. And she had inserted words into his mouth. She had hurt him. But her pride would never let her apologize.

Why should she?

The service continued with sniffles and cries, and concluded with a walk past the casket. Hermione swallowed anxiously as she came in view of Ron. Her fingers wrapped around the edge of the wood, landing softly on the red plush interior that clashed with his hair. He looked as though he was merely sleeping. But Hermione could see the work done upon him. His face was heavily caked with makeup to add colour. His eyes and lips glued shut, everything was done the muggle way, perhaps magic wouldn't hold on the dead... Hermione gently touched his peaceful face and sighed, she couldn't remember the last time she had seen him looking so sweet. It was a sick joke. Hermione removed her hand and walked away.

An hour later he was in the ground with the rest of the Weasley deceased. It wasn't until Hermione saw his body being lowered, and until he was completely covered in dirt that she accepted it. He was gone for good. There was no chance of Ron ever coming back to her now. He was in the ground, laid to rest finally. She sat in her chair by his grave long after the rest of the crowd had left. Hermione had no desire to join everyone in their small talk and cakes. It seemed like a stupid idea. Instead she sat a meter away from the overturned dirt and stared at his blinding headstone.

_"Ronald Weasley, _

_Where there is much light, the shadows are deepest_

_Brother, Son, Loving Boyfriend__"_

She couldn't help but snort disdainfully at the pack of lies upon his grave. Loving boyfriend he was not. Hermione knew it was not about her, since Molly Weasley had avoided her all afternoon. Instead it was for Bianca, who was also hurt by his misdeeds. If only they would all open their eyes and see that Ron was not as glorious as they thought him. But what did it matter, he was dead. Hermione should just leave them to think that they wanted. Loving boyfriend her ass.

_Where there is much light, the shadows are the deepest…_

Goethe. Ron never even read Goethe. Not that Hermione hadn't strategically placed the books about his dormitory and home, because she had tried to make of him a cultured person. That must have been where they had found the idea, Mrs. Weasley had probably see the many books Hermione had bought for Ron and had assumed that he actually read them and enjoyed them.

Well than was depressing. This was more Hermione's tombstone than Ron's. Goethe was one of her favorite poets and playwrights. The saying was true enough. In Hermione's happiest moments the darkest secrets were just waiting to come out. The shadows closed in upon her every night she spent with Ron, and she was clueless. To live life in utter happiness was so dangerous; then to step into a dark pool would drench you in misery, unexpectedly.

She sighed and wrapped her arms about her middle, continuing to reread the words over and over until they became engraved in her memory.

"Oh Ron, I hope you were happy with all of your mistakes. I hope they brought you greater joy than the wretchedness they gave me, for your shadows caught up with you, as mine will with me. I'm cutting ties with your lies; you don't deserve my mourning now. Maybe another time" she whispered standing up. Hermione ran her fingers over the cool white marble tenderly. She then turned away from the grave and walked to the gate.

Hermione let herself into the Manor. She walked silently past the kitchen but stopped when she heard voices coming from inside. She stopped by the slightly ajar door to listen.

"I don't think it's professional" Haleigh said unsurely.

"This is just between us" Draco promised her.

Hermione bit her lip.

"Aren't you and Hermione…dating?" she asked.

Hermione have to cover her mouth to keep from scoffing loudly. Draco did it audibly for the both of them "Of course not, Hermione and I are no more than coworkers" he said.

She leant against the wall in stunned silence. So that was it? So much for friendship, they were no more than coworkers now? Well, she didn't want to impend upon his generosity any longer. She turned and walked up the stairs, not wanting to hear Haleigh's reply. Hermione knew what it would be. Who could resist Draco? He was brilliant, but cruel, as cruel as he was the first day she had met him. He had not changed; he had learned to lie better.

Her suitcases were packed; she would go to her parent's country home. It was still well warded from last summer. It would be fine until she managed to contact Harry and hear what he thought about the situation. She shrunk her suitcases and placed them in her pocket and headed back downstairs. Hermione passed the kitchen again and heard them still talking. She walked out the door and apparated away.

"Alright, I suppose I'll go out with you on one date" Haleigh said uncertainly. It seemed like such an easy decision, but it was no such thing. She found Draco attractive and nice…but there seemed to be some dependency between him and Hermione. As much as he denied it, Haleigh could feel it, and it made her uncomfortable. The tension between the two today was unbearable. She hoped that whatever it was they soon resolved it, she still needed to work with them. And she longed to be in Hermione's good graces more than she did with Draco. The poor girl had gone through so much, was it fair of her to go ahead and enjoy herself? No, it was fair for her. But was it fair for Draco to go ahead and leave Hermione in the dust? Haleigh didn't think so. But they two knew best what the situation was, so who was she to say.

"Can you go to the Ministry tonight and grab all of Traver's files? Get the small misdemeanor's, property taxes, everything you can, and organize in terms of clarity for tomorrow morning" Draco sighed rubbing his eyes. He was smiling lightly. Pleased with himself.

"Yeah, not a problem" Haleigh frowned standing up. She wanted to say something to him about Hermione, but sensed that perhaps it wouldn't go over well for her. "See you tomorrow" she said quietly as she let herself out of the house.

Draco rubbed his eyes, pulled his hair back, scratched his head, and he still could not relieve himself. There was something bothering him, like an impossible itch. He felt horrible about the way he had acted towards Hermione, clearly she was having doubts, and instead of slaughtering them, he fed them. She was surely upset with him.

Was she even back yet? Another regret, he should not have let her go to Weasley's funeral alone. He had promised to go with her…and he had failed his promise. Who knew what she thought of him now. He stood from his chair tiredly, ready for bed.

Walking the stairs to his room he hesitated on the landing. Perhaps he should just leave her be tonight? Allow both of them to cool off and then approach her tomorrow. Would that make things worse? Perhaps things were still reparable at the moment.

She had hurt him by saying he didn't care. Draco did care, and that was why it had killed him to hear her say the words.

These feelings that terrified him; these emotions that caused him to tremble and worry for his sanity were being diminished by her reservation.

He did feel it, and he knew it. He knew he cared for Hermione, and he knew that she was important…but he couldn't answer her real question. The question of 'why?' remained lingering in the air like a stubborn odor.

He didn't know why. It was a mix of her feelings for him, and his desire to have a real friend that arose the feelings. And his sympathies for her pain all caused him to emote in careless way that he never had before. She questioned him, he didn't trust him as well as he thought.

And he let her. He let her drown in her distrust, he allowed her to think little of him. So who was to blame here? Draco understood where she was coming from; it was his move to calm her. But his pride would not let him…

"Hermione?" he asked knocking on the door.

There was no reply so he entered. She was not present, she had not yet returned from the funeral. But the room was also empty. Her clothing did not hang over the chairs, her notes were missing. And her scarf, which had made its home upon his desk, was also gone. He walked to the armoire; all of her drawers were empty, as well with the dresser.

Panic struck him, where had she gone? He needed to owl Potter immediately, because she might have decided to stay with him or the Weasley's after their fight. He just wanted to make sure he was safe.

Hermione trudged up the small dirt path to the cottage. She needed to walk the distance, her anti-apparition wards remained strong. She finally reached the house and opened the door with her wand. Throwing her suitcase down like dice they expanded upon the floor and lay motionless.

Hermione shut the door behind her and sighed. She had never imagined she would be this alone.

Draco was ripping his fine hair out. Potter didn't know where Hermione was. He had told Draco to remain at home while he searched for her. So Draco sat in his drawing room with a whiskey in hand and a fretful hand tapping on his knee. Waiting anxiously for Potter's news. Oh, if only Hermione could see him now. Then she would know just how much he really cared. He laughed at the thought.

Potter's face appeared in his fireplace. Draco dropped his glass to the floor and crouched by the fire. "Did you find her?" he asked.

"I did" Harry said tersely.

"Well" Draco asked in exasperation.

"She doesn't want you to know Malfoy. I don't know what happened between you two, but she seemed adamant on me keeping her location secret from you" Harry explained.

"So what do I do now?" Draco asked.

"You wait for her to come back to you. Leave her alone, she needs time to think things over alone. Now that she's capable of handling the weight, she has to do it on her own before she can let someone else help again. When she's over it, she'll be back. But if you hurt her in some way Malfoy, it might be best if you told me right now, then I could do damage control" Potter offered.

"I didn't do anything" Draco said defensively.

He watched Potter shrug, "Well then, she should be back in no time then" Harry said. "Bye Malfoy" and his face disappeared into ash.

Draco sat back and leant against the leg of his couch. Had he hurt her so badly that she could not bear to be near him any longer?

He was glad to know she was safe.

But she was by no means well.

Draco remained staring at the dead embers long after empty apologies had stopped ringing in his head. He didn't know what he felt, but there was something else bothering him.


	11. Is It Enough

**Chapter Eleven****: Is It Enough**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter.

**A/N**: **To bigmommak:** Percy's vacation is because of Ron's death. Shacklebolt is simply a jerk, so he calls it a _vacation_ because the reason for leave seems trivial to him. The timeline of this is quite confusing, even for myself, the "eight hours, and he was dead" comment made by Hermione was in reference to the last time she saw Ron before he died. She saw him around eight-thirty, nine, at the Malfoy Manor, and in those eight hours after their spat, he died early Sunday morning. I think I'm fairly cohesive, but it's tough. And these questions are smart and require me to do a lot of thinking. Can't say why Kingsley and Harry lied to Hermione. Kingsley apparated her directly to Malfoy Manor from her home, and then Draco apparated her to his place again from the scene of Ron's death. Her clothing was provided by Malfoy himself, all bought brand new. And the Weasley's didn't know about Ron's cheating. They assumed he broke it off with Hermione because of her own issues and then met Bianca later. They are clueless, all but Harry. And Hermione doesn't get the chance to justify herself, at least not yet. And Bianca knows, she just isn't in the picture, for now anyway. Whew…I hope that helps everyone. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to answer as best as I can. Happy reading!

* * *

Draco knew it was iniquitous, but it had been two days since he had received any contact from Hermione. Neither an owl, nor a message though any other person had arrived to him. Draco could not be sure she was even safe. She had left what the ministry had deemed a safe place for her to go god knows where. Although, she would not have been allowed to remain where she was if it were not safe. Potter would make sure of at least that.

Draco had gone to Ipswich with Haleigh in search of Travers but had had no luck. Hermione was the one who had talked to the informant, she knew best. His date with Haleigh had been canceled, only because she felt uncomfortable about going out with him during Hermione's strange absence. It pissed him off that Hermione could have power over his life even when she wasn't around. Draco shut the cabinet loudly, the bang echoed through the metal room.

He flipped through the Granger property tax folder. If she had contacted Potter, he must have known where she was. Or she needed a fireplace hooked up to the floo network. He knew Hermione had neither a house elf nor an owl. So he was looking for possible places Hermione could have been staying in. There was her parent's home in Winchester, not far from his own house. That seemed unlikely, too close, and it had been empty since her parents divorce, left to her upon her marriage. Her parent's homes were quarantined; she could visit neither without setting off a ministry alarm…who knew the Granger's had so many homes? Hermione wouldn't have gone back to her own apartment, also too close. Surely she was not in the condo in Australia, which was too far…

A moderate cabin in Sherwood Forest. He flipped through the contents; it had been unused since last summer. Perfect.

* * *

"Fuck!" Draco cried as he fell back onto the dirt path. He had damn near splinched himself attempting to get close to the house, again! Hermione's wards were strong. He stood and brushed himself off. The house was barely visible over the little hill that led to it. He attempted a step forward. His whole body felt as though it was on fire, but Draco kept going, knowing that it would eventually pass. Finally after three meters, the pain subsided. Damn Granger and all of her wards. But it seemed even her wards could not keep him out; he was no real threat to her. And her home knew it.

He trudged up the path angrily. Draco needed to calm himself, confronting her angrily would get him nothing but another argument, he needed to be armed with one hell of an apology.

* * *

_"I hope we can get along" he said dryly with a smirk._

_Hermione's eyebrows flew up, "If you don't do anything stupid I'm sure we'll get along just fine. Bye" she said walking down the street._

_"Bye" Draco waved to her walking to opposite way._

Hermione replayed this moment over and over in her head. This had been right after their little coffee date; she had never assumed she would be regurgitating these very words in sheer bitterness...

But deep down she had known he would do something so…him. So vile and cruel, so Malfoy-like. He could be an adjective in Webster's…

_'God! You're so Malfoy!'_

_'What a Malfoy thing to do'_

_'__Shame, he grew up to be a Malfoy boy__'_

Hermione chuckled to herself and leant back slightly gripping the roof tightly in her fingers.

The scene from her roof was stunning. Hermione was perched on the small peak right outside the rails of the master balcony. It wasn't very comfortable, but it was worth it. From the spot she could see the sunset coloring the treetops in rust.

Hermione was so close to falling over lately, just tipping over the unseen edge. Everything was so…fragile, the smallest thing would be sure to send her tumbling. It felt as though she was walking on eggshells. In the moment things were okay, well, they could have been worse. But in the larger picture, her life was in shambles. She had been dismissed by the people she considered family, and by her own friends. She was walking on eggshells, everything and nothing all at once. She wished she could have had someone for advice…

What had her parent's last thoughts been? What could they have possibly been thinking about in the time everything happened? Where were their bodies? Were there bodies? These questions would remain unanswered for her. She sighed and shuffled down lower on the peak until her legs were dangling off the roof. Hermione sniffled and wiped her face with the back of her hand. She didn't know what to anymore. Hermione knew she could not go on…but she did not know where to begin.

And so there she was, hiding from the world. Tomorrow she would have to lug her sorry fat ass out of the house and go back to work. It was impossible to know what was going on outside, no Prophet, no radio or TV was present in the house. Hermione's parents believed in family time during vacation. So the whole wizarding world could have burnt to cinders and she would not know.

* * *

"Hermione, don't jump!" Draco cried rushing towards her on the path leading to the house. He had spotted her on the brink of the roof, and she looked to be in thought. Had she really fallen so low that she would consider suicide?

Hermione turned and eyed him doubtfully an insignificant speck below her "I'm not going to jump" she said coolly before turning back around to face the setting sun. How on earth had he managed to figure out where she was? And why hadn't the wards kept him out? But most important, why had it taken him two days to come find her?

"Oh" Draco whispered awkwardly. Now he felt like an idiot. He stopped in the shadow of the columns by her front door. He squinted up at her blackened frame.

"I wouldn't jump over the likes of someone like you" she whispered to herself.

"Can I come up?" he asked not hearing her snide comment. He watched her shrug. Draco opened her front door and tried to figure out how to get to where she was. The house was larger than he anticipated. A grand hall with two staircases greeted him. The Granger's had been wealthier than he had expected, whatever _denisters_ were, they clearly earned a lot of money. He chose the left staircase and headed up. He needed to find the balcony…

He tried three different rooms before he ran across the master bedroom. Draco shut the door quietly behind him and calmed his nerves. He needed to do this right. It was of utter importance.

"Hermione?" he said gently as he stepped onto the terrace. A slight breeze was blowing and he was worried for her safety up on that peak. What if she fell?

Hermione didn't turn around, "What?" she asked quietly.

"Are you okay?"

A loud scoff echoed back to him.

"Listen, I think we need to talk, can you come back here?" he asked kindly leaning against the railing. The scene from her balcony was very pretty, the treetops were yellowed and everything looked soft and hazy. But he still wanted her back on the balcony.

"No, you come here" she said unsympathetically.

Draco looked over the rails and swallowed. Surprisingly, for being a superb Quidditch player Draco did not like heights. Not the ones he couldn't control anyway. Slowly he swung one leg and then the other over the ledge and stepped anxiously on the peak. He then slipped onto his butt and shimmied down to Hermione until he was behind her. "Can we talk now?" he pleaded placing his hands on her back. He looked down and frowned.

"Talk" she said simply.

"I wanted to apologize for the things I said to you a few days ago…"

"You mean Wednesday afternoon?" Hermione corrected crossing her arms and staring hard out at the panorama.

"Yes" Draco replied nervously. Her voice sounded unforgiving and hard. Perhaps he was just wasting his time? Except for the fact that friends' never wasted in time trying to help each other. And after all, had he not promised to be her friend, even before he knew any of this would happen; he couldn't turn back on her now. "I didn't mean to say the things I did, but I think you understand why I said them in the first place. You made me angry Hermione. I thought you believed me when I said I wanted to be your friend, I thought you understood that…so when you said that I didn't care…it hurt. I think we're both to blame here, not just me" he said looking down at his hands which gripped the red shingles.

He sounded genuinely sorry, and Hermione felt a little guilty. But just a little. She frowned deeply and leant backwards until she was against his chest. "I guess I forgive you, and I guess I'm a little sorry too" she whispered grudgingly.

Draco nodded; it was more that he could ask for. After all, he had thought she would curse him out of her house. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her further back until she was propped against him. "Isn't that what friends do? They argue, but eventually they make up" Draco asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. But right now, you're my only real friend. Harry hasn't said anything to me since we fought. I think he's actually given up on me. He simply popped his head in the fireplace two nights ago and asked me what the hell I was doing" she said sadly.

"But that means a lot Hermione. It means he cares. Potter could have simply ignored the fact that you had left. He could have shrugged his shoulders and have let it slide. But he didn't. He searched frantically for you" Draco explained squeezing her softly. Hermione's hands came around his arms gently.

"How do you know that wasn't for business?" she chuckled.

"Hermione, he loves you. So many years of battling evil, and surviving all you have, they don't disappear as quickly as you think they do. He knows and he remembers. Potter's been blinded a little, but he was always relatively slow. Can't be helped for him. You should take that into consideration. Is it fair to judge someone because they're not as smart as you?" Draco asked.

Hermione laughed dryly, but it died soon. "Why didn't you come sooner for me?" she asked quietly.

"I didn't know where you were. Because upon your insistence Potter refused to tell me. So I had to go through you property tax folder to figure out where you had slipped away to" Draco explained.

"Oh" she said with a small chortle.

Draco gripped her tightly so she wouldn't slip. "Come on, let's get off this roof. It's not very comfortable in my position" Draco winced.

"Sorry about that, I forgot…about you…being male and all…" Hermione said turning crimson, glad she was facing away from him. It was odd how simple things like that could send so many ridiculous thoughts into her head.

"Come on" he said pulling away.

* * *

They sat in her kitchen; Hermione was nursing a mug of tea and listening to Draco talk about his adventure in Ipswich. "So you found nothing?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, you were the one who talked to the guy, maybe Haleigh and I got it wrong" he shrugged.

Hermione's face turned sour, "How is Haleigh?" she asked coolly.

Draco's eyebrows disappeared into his fringe. This was interesting, did he sense bitterness in Hermione's tone? What did she have against Haleigh? She barely even knew her.

"She's well, we're going to go on a date tomorrow evening" he lied. Well, they might…eventually.

"Oh" Hermione said airily. Draco could see her eyes harden, was it jealousy? What did she have to be jealous of though?

"Yeah, she's a pretty girl" Draco admitted.

Hermione nodded and looked away "Well I'm happy for you" she said. Being the wonderful actress she was, Draco barely caught the sarcasm in her tone. It was odd, and somewhat scary to see Hermione so unsettled by something so trivial.

"I though we could go back to Ipswich tomorrow" she said, "but if it will interfere with your date, I'll go alone" she added waving her hand light-heartedly.

"It won't interfere with anything. And naturally Haleigh and I will be with you" Draco smiled, he was testing her. Edging her on…

"Goody" Hermione muttered sourly.

"What's wrong?" he asked with fake concern. This was getting interesting.

"Oh nothing, I'm just thinking" she replied quickly, covering the tartness on her face. Draco nodded with a smile. Hermione's unease about him and Haleigh left a warm feeling in his stomach. It was a sick way to react, but the idea of Hermione being jealous of some other girl appealed to Draco. It appealed to him greatly.

"Well, I feel like barrel full of smashed arses" Draco yawned.

Hermione sat up straight and stared at him inquisitively "And what exactly does a 'barrel full of smashed arses' feel like?" she asked with a wry smile.

"Like shit" he muttered.

"Well, you're just a bowl full of stupid for coming up with things like that" Hermione replied standing and walking to the sink to place her mug away.

It was Draco's turn to look questioningly.

Hermione shrugged, "It's a real saying"

"Do you want to stay here tonight, or will Haleigh be missing you?" she asked as she washed the dishes with her back to him. Hermione waited nervously for his answer. She couldn't find an answer as to why the hell she cared. But she did. Clearly she cared about what he and Haleigh were doing.

It bothered her to think of the touching, kissing, or god forbid doing anything further than that. Hermione shuddered softly. "No, Haleigh won't miss me. I'll stay here" he replied.

"Good, I'll go set up a guest room for you" she said rigidly dropping her mug in the sink with a crash. Hermione practically sprinted out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Draco watched her leave with a smile.

* * *

His room was nice and airy. A large window facing the west, Hermione's balcony by his window, it was very nice all in all. He looked through the closets and found old clothing and family items. He pulled out a few boxes and set them on the floor.

The first one contained baby memorabilia. Hermione's first shoes; first lock of hair taped to the photograph of the haircut. First book…he couldn't help but laugh at that one. A whole box of firsts, her first grade, and first picture…Draco enjoyed looking at her things. It reminded him how he had none. His parents were never really sentimental, or so he thought. One day his father found items his mother had been keeping as childhood reminders…he beat his mother and burned everything. Draco had nothing but a few staged photographs.

As he looked through Hermione's albums, even though the pictures didn't move, there were so many stories in them. Birthdays and relatives, a happy family with a smart daughter. Hermione with no teeth. Hermione after cutting her own bangs. Hermione with a toothbrush… At least she had had a real childhood, and at least she had the reminders.

Draco had nothing. It was simply as though he had come into existence. No real parents. No matter how good his mother was deep down…she was still evil. Evil for ignoring her son, evil for letting her husband hurt her and her child…his mother was evil for standing aside. She was weak and it showed. That was why his childhood was miserable. His mother would show compassion, only to get caught and never do such a thing again. He received a taste of what it meant to be loved, and then it was ripped from his tiny little hands.

And he still did not know what it was to be loved. Hell, even the idea of not being disliked was foreign to him. Draco still found it hard to believe that Hermione tolerated him, but not only tolerated him, that she liked him and trusted him. It was the first taste of kindness he had received in a long time and he held it so delicately in his hands. It was so fragile; he would have died to protect it.

The sun had fully set; the night air blew into his window. June, it was now June… how the time passed. It felt as though a million years had been compressed into a little over two weeks…

Draco stood and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

* * *

Hermione threw all of her pillows onto the loveseat by the window and lay down on her bed tiredly. She was glad Draco had come to her, she had missed him. But with him came all of the realities of her life. Ron's death, her parent's death, her safety, Haleigh…

Would she ever be able to work with Haleigh? Not likely, unless she got over the silly feelings she was having. So what, she liked Draco. And she was worried that Haleigh might distract his attention from her. It was selfish, but it didn't matter so long as she didn't act it out or acknowledge it. It wasn't as though she had said anything to Draco about it. So it didn't matter, it didn't exits.

Where to go now…

She was on the ledge and she needed to step back. There were so many things swirling in her head, threatening to push her over. Hermione needed to resist. But she knew…just one more thing and it was over for her. She would actually drop dead. After everything that Draco had said to her…Hermione didn't know if she was going to wake the next morning.

She had bawled all day yesterday. Sobbed, thinking that nobody cared. Hermione had beaten herself up over the whole thing and she had beaten herself down. So low that she had reached a new terrifying bottom.

"Come in" she said.

The door opened.

"How did you know I was outside?" Draco asked as he closed the door behind him. He stood in only a pair of boxers at her door. Too comfortable for Hermione to read anything into it.

"I just felt you" Hermione replied.

Draco came and sat next to her on the bed. He looked troubled. "What's wrong?" Hermione asked sitting up.

He looked up at her unsurely. There was anxiety and fear on his face, he bit his lip and looked back into his lap. "I don't know if the whole dating this with Haleigh is right. I mean, I am her mentor" he said with a sigh.

Hermione bit her lip. Now was her chance to tell him it was wrong and he shouldn't do it…but she couldn't. Hermione had seen how his face light up when she touched him, how he blushed under Haleigh's gaze. There was no way she could do that to him. "Draco, if you like her enough, then it's right" she said softly.

"I do like her" he admitted.

"Then you should go for it" Hermione said with a tense smile.

"You think so?" he asked in surprise.

"I do. If she makes you happy then it's great. I'd only want you to be happy" she said sincerely. Hermione was surprised at how easily the words came to her, easy when it was honesty. She looked down into her lap. What had she expected? She was not as selfish to tell Draco to give up on Haleigh. Especially when she knew her feelings would never get anywhere else but from her head to her heart. Why should she ruin Haleigh's chances, just because she couldn't understand herself?

"Thanks Hermione" he smiled warmly. His cheeks were rosy and eyes bright, so alive.

Hermione almost burst into tears at the sight of his smile. It was authentic and full of emotion; it was all she wanted to see. "Can I hug you?" she asked in a choked voice.

Draco laughed, "You don't need to ask, I like them spontaneous" he grinned nervously. Hermione and tears were not something he had quite yet become accustomed to. Every time she cried he felt a tear in his chest. He only wanted her to sneer and laugh like she used to.

Hermione lunged forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. She knocked him over onto the bed. She sniffled softly into his neck. He smelt like soap and something spicy. His skin was soft against her nose, and Hermione felt like wailing again.

His hands were on her waist, gently and in a friendly manner. "You okay?" Draco asked placing a hand on her head and stroking her hair down. While it felt wonderful to be in the position, Draco knew it was wrong. And he knew it was even more wrong to be thinking the things he was, especially when he was wrong. Part of him had wished Hermione would tell him to forget Haleigh and…and what?

"I don't know" she sniveled.

"Good answer, stupid question on my part" he sighed stroking her hair soothingly.

Hermione looked up at him; she sat up propping her elbows on his chest. "I don't know where to go from here, I can't go on, and I can't go forward from here…there is no forward from this hell" she said softly.

"So start again" Draco suggested.

"I don't want to forget though" she whispered fearfully. He could see the fright in her eyes, the dread in her heart and the apprehension creased into her forehead.

Draco brushed her cheek gently, running his knuckled over her smooth skin, "Hermione, you don't need to forget to start over" his hand cradled her face "You will never forget the things that have happened, but you need to lay them aside and start fresh. And perhaps you can't do it now, but when all of this is over, then will be your opportunity" he promised. His hands slid from her face, down her neck, and rested on her shoulder. "The world needs you Hermione Granger" he said seriously.

"Yeah, well, maybe the world isn't enough" she said glumly.

Draco lifted her head with his hand and forcing her to look at him "Well, the world may not be enough, but maybe it's just enough to start"

* * *

**A/N**** 2: ** Please check out my author's page. I have a poll concerning writing a new story. I want to know your thoughts on it! Thanks! Next chapter, Haleigh has a comeback that makes a splash, and leaves Hermione wet and forgotten. 


	12. What Do You Want?

**Chapter Twelve****: What Do You Want?**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter

**A/N:** This whole chapter was inspired by the song "Think Twice" by Eve 6. It's on YouTube, I suggest you go and check, you'll get a better perspective of where I was coming from. Enjoy!

* * *

Hermione sighed and exited the bar swinging her purse from her hand. The gears in her brain had come to a halt. A brick wall blocked all of her thought. She was mentally kaput. Everything she had been hoping for had gone to hell. A waste of a day.

"What do you have?" Haleigh asked nervously as she jumped from her spot on the bench by the bar's entrance and trailed after the weary Hermione.

"Nothing, just another name" Hermione muttered rubbing her eyes. They had been scrounging around Ipswich for seven hours and had found almost nothing but irrelevant information. It was frustrating and tiring, leaving Hermione with only the desire to cry.

"What name?" Haleigh pressed on.

"Zach Brighton" Hermione said offhandedly.

Haleigh wrote it down in her notepad with a pen, Hermione turned disdainfully to her, "Don't get excited, it's pure rubbish. He simply fed me another name to get off his trail. But I think that bartender knows more than he's letting on, we should come back tomorrow on Sunday, the bar might be emptier. We can use _other_ methods of persuasion tomorrow"

Haleigh nodded in anticipation, "Where are we meeting Draco?" she asked looking about the street. Her face light up at her own mention of his name. It was all too much to take for Hermione.

"_We're_ not" Hermione replied sourly, "I'm done for the day, it's six and I have a dinner date. You'll be meeting Draco back at the manor" she explained quickly. She was definitely running late, in an hour and a half she had to be ready to go out, and she was nowhere prepared for that. Mentally or physically.

"Oh" Haleigh said in surprise, "You have a date?" there was a nasty edge to her voice that Hermione did not appreciate.

"Yes" Hermione snapped back angrily.

"I just didn't think you'd be dating after everything that happened" Haleigh said coolly, placing her notepad and pen into her purse. Hermione turned to look at her. She honestly disliked this girl, and for no apparent reason, but she knew what she felt, and what she felt was dislike. Of the greatest possible kind.

"I made this dinner date two weeks ago. I can't really turn back on it now" Hermione replied composedly. And she couldn't, Paisley Briar was counting on her to be there. He knew of what had happened, and he wanted to give her a nice night to free her mind for a while. Hermione appreciated this, and as much as she didn't want to go, she knew it was important that she did. It was all a part of moving on and she had moved on even before Ron had died, so there was no need for guilt. There was absolutely no need to feel culpable, but she did all the same.

It as difficult to forget the most important matters in her life in order to have her own enjoyment. It seemed sick and wrong. She should have been sobbing her eyes out and contemplating suicide due to the misery of her life. But she was nowhere near there. If anything, Hermione had just become hard and angry. Life had dealt her a spoilt piece of pie and now she had to chew it down with a grimace.

Shacklebolt had no idea where her parents were. He said that every one of their homes together and separately had been searched and found empty. He had tried to assure her that it may have just been an empty threat and that her parents were alive. But Hermione found this difficult to believe, especially if these wizards were some sort of nu-deatheaters. They must have held the same values as the ones before them, why should a couple of muggles have meant anything to them? It would have been a joy to dispose of her parents; Hermione could see what must have occurred vividly in her mind.

It was so startling to remind herself that these people were no longer available to her. No Ron to nag at, no mother to ask, no father to comfort. She was become unsettled with her life, of the sad little thing it resembled. It was all questions that surrounded her. Hermione wasn't sure she knew the answer to anything lately.

With all of these holes in her life that couldn't be filled with answers, Hermione decided to fill them with new people and new information in hopes of blocking the flow of emotions. Stem the stream before it overflowed.

"Goodbye Haleigh" she said shortly turning to the blonde girl.

Haleigh purse her lips and raised her eyebrows. She didn't like Hermione. There wasn't any particular reason, but the feeling was there. Her closed off emotions and hidden motives left Haleigh with a sour taste on her tongue. People like that were not healthy. Draco had told her all of Hermione's problems, and Haleigh knew that nothing would bode well for the girl. But there may have been another reason for her dislike. One she wasn't as keen on to admit. Jealousy perhaps?

"Goodbye Hermione" she replied.

Hermione check to make sure the street was empty, and then she apparated away.

* * *

"I'm okay, I am good" Hermione told herself as she looked into the mirror. But she was none of these things. All day her mood had been sharp, her tongue cruel, she didn't feel like herself acting so rudely. She hoped Paisley could bring out a better side of her tonight.

He had made sure to choose a well filled restaurant and was coming to pick her up. Hermione appreciated his concern; it was nice and left her feeling lighter knowing that she wasn't the only one who cared. She was actually becoming excited for tonight now. The possibility of living through a few hours of forgotten bliss was enticing. All she wanted to do was to forget for a bit.

She sprayed herself with perfume and smoothed her black dress. She felt guilty going out. Her thoughts kept flying back to her parents. She should have been searching for them...for their bodies. But Shacklebolt had forbade her to do anything of the sort, he had said the matter was out of her hands. And there was no reason for Hermione to mourn them. Until she saw their lifeless bodies, she would not sink further. She couldn't let herself sink any further.

Then Haleigh wandered over Hermione's mind. She and Draco would surely be spending the night together. It was clear to see how much they liked each other. And Hermione could say nothing about it; she had already told Draco what she thought. Even though it was a lie, it wasn't like she could go up to him and take it back. It would be unfair.

After all, what did she mean to him? Nothing more than friendship was what they shared. Hermione was just jealous that Haleigh was spending time with her friend, there was little more to it. Hermione didn't actually feel any attraction to him, it was all neediness, and she needed to let it go. As much as she relied on Draco, Hermione could not be more dependent on him then she was on herself.

The doorbell to her chalet rang. Hermione had removed most of the wards earlier in order to allow Paisley to come for her. She walked downstairs quickly and headed straight for the door. She lifted her peephole cover. Paisley stared back at her. Hermione carefully opened the door.

"Hey" she smiled.

"Hello Hermione" he grinned back. His brown hair was tousled lightly and his blue eyes were cheerful and bright. Everything she needed "Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah, I am" Hermione replied stepping outside and closing the door behind her.

* * *

Draco was watching Haleigh as she animatedly talked about her friend who had accidentally turned himself purple. It was quite an interesting story, and under different circumstances Draco would have been enthused. But after Haleigh had told him Hermione wouldn't be meeting them, because she had a dinner date…he didn't like that. It had nothing to do with the date; no…he just hated the idea of her being out alone.

_But she's not alone._

**She is.**

_But she has a date. So do you mean to say when she's not with you, she's alone?_

**No! Not at all!**

Draco shook his head and refocused his attention on Haleigh who appeared to be reaching the climax of her tale, and somehow she was managing to insert her love of frogs into the story too. It was becoming slightly confusing.

The restaurant they had decided to come to had a nice hum. It was full but not loud. The atmosphere was soft and smoky; people were dressed to the nines and talked only of important matters. Well, most at least.

The door opened and Draco jumped in his seat.

Haleigh noticed this abrupt change in his stance. "What's wrong?" she asked reaching out to touch his hand.

"Hermione's here" he said shortly. Haleigh couldn't read his face too well, but all of the lines were hard. He looked rather angry. She turned to see Hermione enter with a nice looking man.

"So what? She has a date, leave her be" Haleigh said lightly. She wouldn't let Draco think of those matters tonight.

Draco nodded and looked away. The man had his arm around Hermione's waist; the fabric of her dress was crinkled under his fingers. There was something about the man that he didn't like. He looked completely wrong all over. Draco shifted his eyes back to Haleigh who was back talking.

* * *

Hermione smiled graciously as Paisley pulled out a chair for her. She sat and he pushed it in. "What a gentleman" she teased lightly.

"Doesn't every man pull out your chair?" Paisley asked curiously.

"Not that I can recall" Hermione chuckled taking a menu from a waiter.

"I don't understand why not. It's customary in polite society to treat a beautiful young woman with respect" Paisley said clicking his tongue. Hermione looked up and him and smiled.

"Maybe you're just too nice?" she suggested softly, honestly.

His blue eyes widened with interest, "You think so?" he asked with a twitchy smile.

"I think so. You are a very nice man" Hermione said in assurance, a blush crept up her cheeks. She was horrid at giving compliments.

"Well, you are a very nice woman too" Paisley said with a nod.

Hermione laughed lightly, "I don't like that. It makes me feel old when I'm called a _woman_" she admitted.

"You're twenty-four! How old can you feel? I can't very well call you a _girl_" Paisley said with a short laugh. He opened his own menu and began to look at it with mild interest but his eyes kept flickering up to her face.

"Trust me, the things I've lived through, most ninety year olds have never even fathomed" Hermione said seriously. Her lips turned down slightly.

"It just makes you wiser Hermione. I know a lot has happened to you, and I can't pretend to understand. But I can tell you that you take these lessons and move on. You're too young to end your life now; you have so much further to go. Remember, you want to change to world" he said kindly reaching out across the table to place his hand on hers.

Hermione's eyes landed on his hand and slowly rose to his face. "You are a good person, and bad things happen to good people. But if all of the good people shut down, where would we be now?" he asked with a beam. Hermione smiled in return.

"You are smarter than you claim to be" she said with a raise brow.

"I never claimed anything of the sort!" Paisley chuckled lightheartedly. Hermione smiled sweetly at him and turned his hand over in hers.

* * *

Draco watched the man place his hand on Hermione's, and then she smiled and blushed. She had actually blushed; he couldn't recall her ever having done that around him. Then Hermione turned the man's hand over in her own, their palms were flat against one another's. It was such an intimate gesture, it perplexed Draco. Were they so close already? And who was this man? Draco couldn't see his face very well in the dim lighting.

He shifted over lightly in his booth to see them better. Haleigh had gone to the washroom for a moment. Draco squinted and willed himself to see who this was.

Then it clicked. It was Paisley Briar, a rich entrepreneur who he happened to know fairly well. Their families had been in connection when they were children. There wasn't much he could say about Briar that was bad. The man was actually a good person and a decent businessman. This frustrated Draco further. He had seen them together before.

Why was he mad about her being with Briar when he knew Briar was a nice guy?

Hermione leaned forward over their small table to hear Briar better. Draco clenched the tablecloth in his fingers. Briar placed a kiss on her cheek. Draco wrenched his eyes away. He couldn't watch. It was all too much for him.

Why did he care? He didn't. No…he was here with Haleigh, and Hermione had clearly expressed that she had no feelings for him…but there was the kicker. He had wanted her to say she liked him, that she felt anything more than a friendly vibe towards him. When she hadn't…it had been a mix between relief and disappointment. If Hermione had said something, Draco knew he would have acted on it. But if he had acted on it he would only have mixed himself up into the worst hell possible. He couldn't become too emotionally involved with her…but he was.

It was just that…he had never invested so much emotion into any one person. Especially not into such a beautiful and smart girl like Hermione, and then to know that it would never go anywhere else, that was maddening. To know all of that potential sat there unused killed him.

He could see Briar's hand touch her knee under the table. He pushed up her skirt and touched her bare skin. Draco gritted his teeth.

"What was I saying before I left?" Haleigh asked as she sat back down in the booth. "Draco?" she asked after a moment of no response. Her eyes followed his gaze and landed on Hermione. Haleigh couldn't take much more of this. Her green eyes narrowed crossly.

"Are you here with me or her Draco?" she asked crossing her arms.

Draco turned to her, "Hu?" he asked.

"I asked if you asked me here, or Hermione." Haleigh repeated frostily.

Draco swallowed unsurely. He didn't know what to say. How was he supposed to explain to Haleigh what he felt? He couldn't possible make her understand. But he liked Haleigh so much, why was he being so stupid. There was a beautiful girl before him, smart, hardworking…

But he wanted the one over there; he wanted the one he couldn't have.

"Draco, don't reply, it's probably better if you don't" Haleigh said grabbing her purse off of her seat. "I think you need time to figure out what is going on in your head" she said pushing her blonde hair over her shoulder. She couldn't understand him, but she knew Draco had to find himself before she could even be near him. It was maddening for her.

"Haleigh, don't go" Draco pleaded reaching for her.

"No, I have to go. Listen Draco; if you feel more strongly about Hermione than you do about me, its okay. I can handle it. But I don't want you to pull me along like a ragdoll while your eyes are glued to her. I won't be the _other_ girl. I like you, I really do, but the feeling's just not being reciprocated" she sighed standing. She set her lips into a firm line letting him know she was not about to change her mind.

"Haleigh, I do like you. I'm just…" he groaned loudly. There were no words to explain what he felt.

Haleigh placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly as she knelt by him, "Draco, you don't need to explain yourself to me. But don't lie to me either. I can see the way you look at her. You might not know it yet. But I could sense the tension the moment I saw you two together. I'm not one to meddle in other people's affairs. So you shape what is going on in your heart and if you decide that you don't feel anything for Hermione. Then we can talk" she said kindly. Haleigh couldn't blame him; she had known there was something. Even if they had not. But still…if Draco decided that he wanted her, Haleigh would not let him go again. This was his one chance to decide. After this, there was no going back. One way or another.

Draco could do nothing but nod.

* * *

Hermione was being pulled from her chair. "No, Paisley, I don't dance" she insisted. He was having none of that. He pulled her up and towards the dance floor.

"I'll teach you" he offered with a smile.

"I don't know that you can" Hermione laughed, "I have two left feet"

"A healer could fix that" Paisley said with wide eyes.

Hermione laughed again, "it's a muggle saying" she explained as he pulled her closer to him, "It just means I have no sense of dance in my body, I'm as clumsy as someone with two left feet". Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder, and her other in his.

Paisley's arm wrapped around her back, "Oh, I see" he said with a smirk, "But I don't think you are nearly as clumsy as you think. I find you to be very graceful" he admitted seriously.

"Stop complimenting me, it will all go to my head" Hermione replied lightly.

He spun her around on the floor, seamlessly weaving them through other couples dancing. Hermione's face was awfully close to his. His skin was like melted butter, smooth and pale. But his eyes, they were the best part of all. So deep and rich, a true royal blue colour. Paisley's cheek landed on her own and Hermione instinctively moved closer to him. Her body was reacting in a way she hadn't even considered after Ron. Or Draco…

He was a good man, handsome too, why should she worry about something that would not happen when she had this in her hands? His scent was clean and warm, his body hard and supporting. Hermione's mind closed and her senses began to work for the first time in weeks. Hermione closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

"Hermione?" he whispered in her ear.

She opened her eyes to look at him, "Yeah?" she asked nervously. Paisley's lips dropped on her own. It was nice, warm and soft, but…not altogether there for some reason.

* * *

Draco couldn't bear to watch it go on any longer. He stood from his chair and traipsed to the dance floor, fully aware of what a bad idea it was. He walked right up to the kissing Hermione and Briar and tapped the man's shoulder. "Excuse me?" he said rigidly.

Briar pulled away from Hermione and looked at Draco in total shock. He pulled Hermione to his side and she looked up too. "Draco?" she asked in confusion.

Now he didn't know what to say. Here he was, ready to confront Hermione and Briar, but words had failed him. "I…"

"You what?" Hermione asked in concern. What on earth was he doing here? Had something urgent happened?

"I need to talk to you Hermione" he spat out quickly.

"You can talk to her here" Briar said tightening his hold on Hermione's waist.

"No it's alright" Hermione said placing a gentle hand on Paisley's chest. Whatever Draco needed to say it was probably best said in privacy.

"I don't like this Hermione" Paisley whispered in her ear.

"Well I don't like you" Draco replied coolly.

"I beg your pardon?" Briar asked, his eyes flashing angrily.

"You heard me" Draco spat, "I don't like you, so get your hands off Hermione!" Draco demanded. A hush had fallen over the guests in the building.

"She doesn't belong to you" Briar said defensively.

Hermione was looking from one to the other. Trying to grasp what was happening. She couldn't understand what was wrong with Draco. Why was he acting so rude? It really wasn't like him to be so trivial and childish.

"Well she's not yours either" Draco replied haughtily.

"Well Hermione's here with me, not you" Paisley said just as arrogantly. Hermione was chewing her lip with worry. She was afraid to get caught in the crossfire. There was something she was missing. But a fire had been light in Draco's eyes, he was ready to fight.

"Stop this now" she pleaded tiredly.

"I don't want you touching my girl ever again" Draco said advancing on Briar. His body was aflame, rage coursing through his veins. All he could see were Briars hands on Hermione's body. It was sickening, it wasn't right.

"Your girl?" Hermione said incredulously crossing her arms. She went unnoticed as the two alpha-males began to circle each other.

"I don't think there's very much you can do about it" Briar said gritting his teeth and flexing his fingers.

"Care to see?" Draco asked quietly, his tone was threatening, almost deadly.

"Show me" Briar smiled.

Draco lunged forward, wand forgotten. It was that move that took Paisley by surprise. Hermione could only watch in horror as Draco pushed Paisley to the floor and began to hit him repeatedly in the face. The restaurant workers were already calling aurors. Even the uninterested people in the place were now standing in outrage and disbelief. Hermione was horrified, she covered her hands with her face.

Paisley wasn't going down without a fight himself. He was hitting Draco back just as roughly. Hermione could stand no more of this. It was because of her that they were fighting. She hated it.

"OUTSIDE NOW!" Hermione yelled pointing to the door. They ignored her.

Hermione decided to get physical herself. She grabbed Draco's elbow and pulled him off of Paisley with all of the might she could muster. He flew back into her and they smashed into a table. She grabbed his sleeve and jerked him towards the door roughly. Draco followed hesitantly, looking back at Paisley menacingly. "You stay, I'll be back for you!" Hermione said angrily to Paisley who was attempting to stand.He had a cut on his chin and was spitting blood on the floor.

Draco was pushed out into the cool air; it stung his cut lip and slapped him with reality. He had seriously wronged back there, and Hermione would not let it go unnoticed. What had he done?

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" she cried pushing him further down the sidewalk. He could hear the pain in her voice. He had caused that pain. Shame crept down his neck.

"Hermione" Draco said gently, trying to soothe her. Her hair was falling out of its updo; her face was flushed with anger. She was beyond upset.

"Don't _Hermione_ me. Explain yourself right now" she demanded crossing her arms.

"I don't like him Hermione, he's bad news" Draco said stepping towards her. Hermione put out her hand to stop him in his tracks.

"No Draco, it's not up to you whom I chose to date. And he is not _bad news_" she said with a waver in her voice. Why was he doing this to her? He had made it clear that he wasn't interested in her. But to arrive on her date, uninvited and ruin it for her? That was just taking it too far. She really hated this. Correction, she hated Draco for this.

"He's all wrong for you Hermione!" Draco cried as he wiped the blood off his lip with his sleeve. There was a break in his voice, an anger Hermione had never before seen on him. It was frightening and baffling. There was something here that she just wasn't seeing. Like a cloud of smoke before her sense.

"What do you want from me Draco? You ruined my date. For no good reason at all… Do you really hate me so much that you would take away the only happy moment I've had in a long time? You don't even know him. How dare you, you're so selfish." she said quietly.

"You don't like him Hermione" Draco insisted stubbornly. He didn't even want to comment on the 'happy moment' or 'selfish' ideas.

"How would you know? You never asked me what I thought or felt!" she yelled.

"You never told me" he said in defense but Hermione's voice smothered his own.

"You are all set on Haleigh! You never cared about Paisley before. Why now? What changed? Draco, I repeat, WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!" she screamed. Her voice broke through the tears. Hermione's chest heaved with the exertion. She began to cry loudly.Gut wrenching sobs that drove Draco mad. All he wanted to do was run to her.

Draco's eyes were burning, his whole body was burning. "I don't want you to be giving yourself to people who don't deserve you. You are so caring and beautiful, but so naïve Hermione. He doesn't like you. He likes the idea of you. And what about me? I'll be the one who you'll cry to when it all goes to hell. What about me Hermione?" Draco asked calmly.

"So this is about you?" she questioned tearfully.

"Yes it's about me! And about you! I'm just waiting patiently on the sidelines, hoping maybe you'll see. I had no idea, I couldn't understand myself, but I think I do now. Hermione, you need me, just as much as I need you. And I don't want anyone else to even look at you. I can't stand to watch him touch you and wish that it was me in his place" Draco spat out. All of his thoughts tumbling out of his mouth in an ungraceful manner "I want to be touching you in that manner, I want to kiss you and make you blush. Me, me here!"

Hermione's breath hitched "You were so drowned with Haleigh, only a day ago. How am I supposed to just take this in Draco? How am I supposed to accept what you say to me? All of this sounds like a good way for me to get hurt again" she said seriously.

"Hermione, I would never hurt you" Draco promised moving towards her. He pulled her to him, her head rested on his chest.

"What do you want from me?" she asked again. This time she seriously wanted an answer.

"I want you. Isn't that enough?" Draco asked running his hands through her hair.

Hermione looked away, her eyes focusing on the empty street. The lane was empty, the lights were flickering apprehensively. Just as apprehensively as her heart. She couldn't do this. Not right now. Paisley had just been a good time, but this was something else. Something that she just wasn't ready to delve into. "Draco" she sighed looking up. His eyes were unsure, curious and on the edge of heartbreak.

"Please Hermione, just this once" he pleaded as his face dropped down to hers.

His lips ran along hers lightly causing a shiver to run through her body. His hands held her waist tightly; his body was warm and soft. "Please Hermione" he begged. He was squeezing her waist tightly now, Hermione could sense his fear, his want, his pain. "Isn't it enough?" he asked sadly, his lips brushing against hers.

All he wanted to do was kiss her, hold her, just to know. All he wanted was to see if he really felt the way he thought or if it was all in his mind.

She could smell him, she could feel and see him clearly. This was Draco...his grip on her was growing even tighter, turning desperate in her silence.

"I don't know that it is" Hermione whispered pulling away from him.

Draco stepped back and nodded solemnly, "I guess I missed my chance" he said looking away from her.

"Maybe it has yet to come" Hermione said hopefully stepping closer to him.

His lips turned thin, "No. It's passed" he repeated.

"Don't say that" Hermione whispered.

"Kiss me then" he replied.

"I can't" she said shaking her head, "I'm not ready for this"

"But you kissed _him_" Draco sneered cruelly.

"It's different" Hermione said looking down at her feet.

"How?" he demanded.

"I might actually feel something for you Draco, I don't know that I could take the pain to come" she explained.

"So I'm not enough, I'm not worth it?" he asked sadly, his voice wavering. Hermione could feel his pain, but she wouldn't let him guilt her. She didn't know what she felt, and she wasn't ready to push herself into uncharted waters, only to sink.

"Draco-"

Hermione never got the chance to reply, a loud scream issued from the restaurant.


	13. Like the Brighton Line

**Chapter Thirteen: Like the Brighton Line**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter. It never gets easier to say it…

* * *

Hermione's eyes snapped back to the restaurant door, a piercing female scream had just rung through her ears. "Oh shit" she whispered as she grabbed her wand out of her pocket. She flew past Draco and ran to the door. 

"I don't think so, you stay here" he demanded grabbing her hand and pulling her back roughly, he released her just as quickly. Hermione went sprawling onto the street, landing hard on her back, as Draco ran into the building. Her ass was soaked from the water in the gutter, and wet leaves clung to her dress.

"Ass" she muttered standing with a wince. She opened the door and followed him in. The restaurant had detonated into chaos and confusion. People were yelling and screaming, pushing past Hermione to get out the door. It felt like a jungle, it looked like a jungle. People were trying to apparate unsuccessfully. Others were scrambling over one anther to get into the floo. 

She tried to see what was occurring but in the confusion of bodies it was impossible to pinpoint what had caused the pandemonium. "Move!" a wizard yelled as he shoved her into the coat rack by the door. Hermione collided with it and it toppled over. Her feet tangled in a coat and she stumbled into the panic. She kept her eyes about the people around her, where was Draco and what was going on? 

Where were the perpetrators? Hermione couldn't see any wizards causing the panic so why were people still screaming and yelling? 

A familiar blond head reached her eyes. Hermione pushed through the throng of people towards the back of the restaurant. But the mass heaved back towards her; she seemed to be the only one pushing towards the scene. More people began screaming as an echoing boom exploded about the room. "Draco!" she yelled in frustration, no longer being able to see him. Hermione pushed through the last of the crowd to come upon a disgusting scene. 

Paisley Briar lay on the ground beyond recognition. If Hermione had not taken note of his attire earlier she would not have been able to recognize him. He appeared to have been burnt to a crisp. His skin was completely charred and appeared like withered leather, an unpleasant scent surrounded him. "Expecto Patronum!" Hermione cried summoning her otter, "Quick to the Ministry, find Harry and tell him we need aurors and healers now!" the otter disappeared after her command.

Hermione knelt down by Paisley; she reached to touch his mutilated face with her fingers…as her fingers contacted his skin he burst into a cloud of ash. Hermione coughed and covered her face. What had happened here? And why to Paisley? The restaurant had emptied out and aurors were filing in with Harry in the lead. Hermione looked around but she couldn't see Draco anywhere. 

"Harry" she whispered. 

"Oh Hermione are you alright?" he asked running towards her. He picked her up off the ground and pulled her away from the remains of Paisley. The other aurors began to search the building. He sat her down on the floor by the bar. Harry's eyes were wide and alert, "Spread out, search the premise!" he yelled to his coworkers. 

"What happened, and who was that?" Harry asked looking back to the pile of ash and clothing on the floor. 

"That used to be Paisley Briar; we were here on a date but then Draco was here too, and then he and Paisley got in a fight so I took him outside and tried to talk to him but then someone screamed in here so we ran back inside and then I couldn't find him" Hermione said in a single breath. She could feel herself begin to shake, Paisley had exploded, and she had inhaled his remains…her stomach churned.

"Slow down, wait; who did you take outside, Draco or Briar?" Harry asked in confusion. His eyes kept flicking from Hermione to the surrounding area.

"I took Draco outside to talk to him, and then someone screamed so we came back inside" Harry gave her a disapproving look at that but Hermione ignored it, "and then I lost Draco in the crowd, and I found Paisley" she repeated. 

"Where is Draco now?" Harry asked looking around. 

Hermione looked up tearfully, "I don't know" she cried realizing the scope of the situation, "I thought I saw him for a moment, but now he's gone!" 

"Stay here, don't move until I come back" Harry said standing from the floor "I'll go see if I can find him". 

Hermione nodded and looked back to the ground. Poor Paisley, and where was Draco…She could barely comprehend what had occurred in the last fifteen minutes. Whatever curse had hit Paisley, it was unlike anything she had ever seen before. It was vile and cruel, and could not have passed painlessly. She placed her head into her hands quietly and shut her eyes in an attempt to block the information from processing. 

"Harry?" she called weakly and tiredly looking up "Harry? Anyone?" Hermione stood and looked about the trashed room. Tabled upturned, food all over, but empty. All of the aurors had disappeared. Hermione knew not what to do. Harry had told her to stay, but she didn't feel right waiting around all alone, it felt…ominous. 

She grabbed her cloak from the floor and pulled it on swiping her purse from the ground as she headed out. Perhaps there were still people outside. Out on the street a mass huddle of people were still in a panic, talking animatedly to one another. "What happened in there? Did you see the attackers?" Hermione asked an older man and woman "Auror" she added pulling out her badge from her cloak pocket. 

The woman looked to what appeared to be her husband and frowned deeply, "I saw one of them. Did you see anyone Robert?" 

Robert sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I barely saw them. There were three I think. But they were all dressed darkly…and had masks" 

"Can you tell me what they did?" Hermione asked as she grabbed a quill and paper from her purse. 

"I'm not sure just how long they were in there. But I hadn't seen them apparate in suddenly. The simply attacked the one fellow… then they began shooting curses and people began running. I saw them 

go after another man, a blonde one. But by then we were caught in the mass crowd. I'm assuming they're gone?" Robert said gravely. 

"Yes" Hermione replied dismally. 

"I'm sorry we couldn't have been of more help to you miss" the woman said sweetly. She reminded Hermione of her own mother. 

"No, you helped as well as you could. Thank you for telling me all that you knew. It should help" Hermione smiled tightly. She walked away from the couple. A rock began to form in her stomach. Draco must have run away. Hid somewhere, but why had they gone after him. 

Hermione looked down the lane and sighed deeply. People were already leaving the scene. She did not want to be alone on a dark street.

So she apparated straight to the manor.

* * *

Surprisingly the wards still allowed her entrance. "Draco?" Hermione called as she walked through the foyer into the kitchen. She hated herself for being so cruel to him earlier. Where was he now? All she wanted to do was apologize. 

"Hermione?" 

Hermione turned around expectantly, but saw only Haleigh by the door. "I was contacted by the Ministry about what happened?" she asked looking around in panic "I figured you two might return here, where's Draco?" 

"Gone, to who knows where" Hermione replied miserably turning away from her. 

"Don't talk like that!" Haleigh said angrily as she marched up to Hermione, "How can you? You must know where he is!" 

"I don't know, and I talk that way because it's probably true" Hermione replied harshly, she was on the verge of tears. She couldn't shake the terror from her chest. It was an intense moment edging into breakdown. 

"And you're just going to let it be? Don't you care for him at all?" Haleigh asked tearfully, "Hu? He's in trouble because of you, for you, and you are just going to let it pass? I know the restaurant was attack because of you!"

"WHAT CAN I DO?" Hermione screamed back, her hands clenched into small fists by her sides "What can I do? Me? I don't know where he is, I'm probably in just as much trouble…I don't know where to start, I don't know who to find, who to attack… Can't you see that?" she cried helplessly. 

Haleigh stepped forward and slapped Hermione ruthlessly, "Get a hold on yourself, you have a name" Haleigh responded coolly. "I could only wish that Draco loved me a centimeter of what he loves you, but he doesn't. If I were in your place, I would be searching for that man relentlessly in order to figure out where Draco was. You disappoint me Hermione, where is your courage? Where is your stamina and drive? _You_ are supposed to be one of the amazing trio? Laughable" Haleigh said coldly. 

Hermione looked up at her in shock, her cheek stinging and face reddening with rage. Haleigh's usual warm features had turned chilly and anger traced her eyes. "Fine" Hermione said frostily "I'm leaving" 

"Good" Haleigh yelled at her retreating form. Hermione was headed for the door.

* * *

The hard pavement of the dingy Liverpool lane hit Hermione's feet. Only three of the lamplights were working on the whole street, and all of the shops appeared to be closed. But Hermione knew for a fact that the barman from earlier today lived in the room above his tavern. She walked quickly to it. 

Zach Brighton, like the train line. This was the man she was looking for; hopefully it was not a dead end. If everything was well, and she was acting in an exaggerated fashion, then Draco would pop up eventually. But Hermione couldn't guarantee that. And after everything he had done for her, it would have been evil to not look for him. 

It was the simple fact that she felt like a chicken without a head that worried her. She was running in a wild circle, completely in danger and not cognizant of this. Hermione sniffed and pulled her cloak closer across her body, she could see the bar. 

The door opened with a prod of her wand and Hermione ventured in. She passed the working area and headed for the stairs to the top floor. Her chest had tightened and her head spun. What was she doing? This was so foolish; Harry would kill her if he ever found out. 

Hermione stopped outside the door. Could she really just barge in there and demand answers? Alone, unsure, what if she was attacked? If that occurred, then it was the end for her pitiful existence. What was she doing here...?

She smashed open the door, wand in front of her, auror alert wits on high. And immediately she sensed something was off, very off…

The flat was empty. It was a one room area, with a bathroom. But the door to the bathroom was wide open, it was also empty. It was not this that worried her. It was the fact that there were dirty dishes in the sink, and that the bed was still made perfectly. Hermione frowned and stepped further inside. She placed her wand arm down at her side and looked around cautiously. A mug of half finished tea sat on the coffee table. 

Had he been attacked? There was no sign of a struggle, or any damage to property. Had the owner fled? If so, why? Surely he could not have known Hermione would be coming for him. But…surely he had heard about the commotion at the restaurant. Hermione picked up the mug. The tea left inside was still lukewarm. The man had fled no more than a few minutes ago. 

Three hours since she had gone on her date with Paisley. Three hours ago it seemed like maybe things would keep moving, maybe there would be no giant blockade, not standstill in her life. Three hours. 

Barely an hour since she and Draco had fought. What had he meant? Had he meant to say he liked her…in _that_ way? Had she turned him down? Why? Hermione could not even remember why she had been so mad at Draco, barely an hour ago. 

Forty-five minutes ago she had caused Paisley to burst into a cloud of ash. The poor man, he had probably been caught in the cross fire. Forty-five minutes ago Draco had also disappeared. 

Twenty minutes since she had barged out of the manor angry at Haleigh, but mostly at herself. She had almost given up. Hermione had almost raised her hands of Draco. After all he had done for her; she had been prepared to allow someone else to do the dirty work. 

A minute ago she had realized just how grave the situation was. Ron was dead, her parents as good as dead, Paisley dead, Draco gone…she was to die next. And there was no way to stop it. Why kill Paisley? Why take Draco? Why had the barman run? What did he know that caused him to fear for his life? Hermione did not know. But she knew one thing; Zach Brighton had all of her answers.

* * *

**A/N**: I am a super lazy bum. So this is all you get. It's a very short chapter, but I've been really busy andI felt the need to just putsomething out. Hopefully you don't all hate me. Anyway...thingsget a little more interesting now. Hermione takescontrol of the situation, Haleigh...whatis so off about her? And Draco, where is Draco?

Thanks for reading, please review!


	14. Alias and Alibi

**Chapter Fourteen: Alias and Alibi**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

"Hermione! What the hell, don't go there!" Harry said running after her as she walked through the door at the end of the hall. It closed with a loud metallic bang and he heard the clanking of the locks. "Hermione!" he yelled reaching the door two seconds later and banging upon it with his fist. He knew she couldn't hear him. "Hermione what are you doing?" Harry sighed tiredly placing the palm of his hand on the cool door in resignation.

She had walked into work this morning not a minute ago and had immediately headed for the file room without even a word to anybody else. Like a ghost she walked swiftly and with purpose to her destination. Nobody had even looked up from their desks, their path, office doors had remained closed.

Harry had been terribly confused last night, the restaurant, Briar's death, Malfoy's disappearance. He had been worried when he noticed that Hermione had disappeared, but he had received word that she had made it home later in the evening. Everything was slowly unraveling and he didn't know what to do.

Things were happening too fast to be processed. Harry couldn't piece the puzzle together when new pieces were being thrown at him relentlessly. Kingsley had not come in to work this morning, he had gone off to investigate Bianca thinking that she might have something to do with the whole thing. Harry felt as though Kingsley was grasping for straws. But Harry had no idea where to grasp himself. Hermione had mentioned a name earlier, but he couldn't recall it now. But he was willing to bet his whole fortune that she was in there right now looking up whoever that person was.

"Zach…Brighton…" Hermione muttered as she leafed through the folders placed in the giant wall to wall filing cabinets. Her knees had started to give; she had been crouching along the bottom shelves for half an hour going through the B's.

Part of her knew she wouldn't find a file on this man. Either Brighton was an alias and didn't exist in this room. Or his true name was Brighton and was under another alias she didn't know. Hermione slammed the cabinet shut, the metal panged loudly and echoed all about her.

She whimpered and collapsed onto her rear. Everything felt hopeless; she didn't know where she could find this man. She didn't even know what he looked like. The bartender had disappeared, and he had been her real last hope.

"Expecto Patronum" Hermione sighed pointing her wand to the air in front of her. Her otter spilled out imperceptibly from the tip of her wand, "Find Haleigh, tell her to meet me in front of the mansion in half an hour" Hermione said. Her otter nodded and disappeared in a streak of light. Hermione sighed and looked at the cool tile floor, tears blurring her eyes. She sniffled loudly and pulled herself to her feet. Crying would bring no one back.

* * *

"What?" Haleigh questioned chewing noisily on her gum. She was leaning against the right pillar in front on the mansion doors. Her legs casually bent as her arms folded over her bosom.

"Haleigh, what do you know?" Hermione asked evenly, trying to keep her face as straight as her voice.

"Hu, 'bout what?" Haleigh asked with raised brows. Then she popped her gum obnoxiously and widened her eyes in impatience.

"Haleigh, I asked you to find information on Zach Brighton, I couldn't find his folder today…do you have it?" Hermione asked lightly.

She shrugged.

"Haleigh, if you withhold Ministry documents from me I will be forced to take you in for questioning under the assumption of suspicious behavior" Hermione said pulling out her wand and pointing it at Haleigh.

The girl looked positively shocked, her green eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open. "Are you serious?" Haleigh asked incredulously.

"Dead serious" Hermione said with a dry smile.

"I lost it" Haleigh said with a small frown her eyes began to flutter from side to side.

"Explain" Hermione urged keeping her wand fixed on Haleigh's chest, her eyes narrowed.

"I had it, I went home, put it down…and it disappeared" she shrugged.

"'_It disappeared'_ is **not** the same as '_I lost it'_" Hermione said gritting her teeth. Haleigh stiffened awkwardly and she began to shift her weight in nervousness.

"Seriously Hermione, I don't know where the fuck it is, I had it, then it disappeared. I thought I lost it, but I can't find it anywhere at my place…I've even attempted to accio it" she said earnestly.

"Don't be stupid" Hermione said coldly, "Ministry items like that can't be called with an accio. They have a concealment charm upon them for idiots who assume they can steal them so simply"

"I wasn't trying to steal it!" Haleigh said angrily, "I already had it!"

"Yes, but you acted in the way a burglar would have, the charm reacted in its natural way. So…Haleigh, why didn't you know that already? I mean, you went to written school for auror training…shouldn't they have taught you that? And even if you fucked up, why didn't you ask Draco or I for help in locating it? You were at dinner with him just last night" Hermione's eyebrows flew up in a silent thought "That's beside the point now, you must have some notes that you took from the file"

Haleigh shook her head, "It's all gone"

"Then lets find it" Hermione said.

* * *

Haleigh's apartment was turned upside down. Paper's were stacked all over the place in accordance to subject. They had been unable to find the file. "I don't understand" Hermione groaned as she turned on the spot and desperately looked around Haleigh's living room, willing the folder to smack her in the face.

"I told you it disappeared" Haleigh said coldly coming in from her kitchen. Her manor had turned icy in the past hour. Hermione felt the same. She no longer felt as though Haleigh was with her. This girl was so scattered it was painful; she was a hinder of the worst kind, and terribly indifferent about the whole situation.

"It can't have disappeared. Those things don't happen. You must have left it somewhere else…or…somebody took it" Hermione said slowly. She hadn't even considered the information having been stolen. Mostly because Hermione hadn't thought that anyone would know about the information they were looking for. The only person besides Draco and Haleigh who knew about Zach Brighton was Harry. And Harry had probably forgotten already. "Bloody hell" Hermione grumbled as she knocked over a large stack of folders and watched it flutter and scatter on Haleigh's beige carpet.

"Who would have taken it?" Haleigh asked.

"I…oh" Hermione said softly.

"What?" Haleigh asked scathingly. Her annoyance was growing by the second.

"You stay here, don't you dare leave the house. I'm sending my patronus to get somebody to watch you" Hermione said quickly as she walked out of the door and down the hall where she disapparated with a loud snap.

"What did I do?" Haleigh yelled angrily at the place where Hermione had previously been standing.

* * *

"Come on Draco, where the hell did you leave it?" Hermione muttered to herself as she leafed through his desk quickly. "Please, please, you must have taken it. If it wasn't you then I'm screwed" she kept whispering as she turned over his drawers spilling the contents on the floor. Pens and papers clattered onto his hardwood floors.

"Ah!" she gasped loudly as she saw the folder had slipped out from another larger one. Hermione grabbed it and quickly opened it, her heart racing painfully fast. Only to find it completely empty and her lead totally obliterated.

She sat down on the ground in disappointment and fury. "I can't believe this" she whispered dropping the empty folder. "Draco what were you doing? What were you doing without telling me that got you into this giant mess?" Hermione sighed and leant back against the side of his bed. A small piece of paper had floated out of the mess and was sliding across the floor towards her.

* * *

Draco couldn't see anything. But he wasn't surprised. After all, kidnappers hardly allowed their kidnapped to see who they were. What worried Draco was the total eerie silence that seemed to be pressing in on him. There was not a sound, not that of footsteps, nor that of an old fan, not even a radio in the distance. He could not tell where he was, the room was neither hot nor cold, no draft hit him from any direction, no red behind his eyelids to indicate light. He was so anxious that he was sure his whole body must have been shaking.

He should have said something to Hermione earlier. To anyone really…but he had been too late. He had planned to tell her everything after his dinner with Haleigh, he had to deal with Haleigh first. And when he had seen Hermione there, he had planned for everything to go so well…but such things were not to be planned. Had it only been last night that he had seen Hermione? It felt like such a long time ago. Perhaps it had been a while ago, after all, Draco had lost all sense of time.

What had he gotten himself into now? He was royally screwed…for the moment he was alive, and seemingly well. His kidnappers remained so; he hoped they would not turn into attackers soon. His whole body felt as though it were crumbling. He had no idea where Hermione was, not the slightest inkling if she was safe… There was so much at stake, and Hermione had no idea just what was teetering on the edge. He wished there was some way to reach her, but he knew none.

* * *

Hermione reached forward and grabbed the fleeting piece of parchment. She straightened it out on her knee and laughed tearfully.

_Not alibi, juiced. _

_29468 Brookmoor Lane, Ipswich_

What the hell was it? Was it just a stupid note he wrote to himself three years prior or was this recent? Did this mean something? It seemed too good to be true. But the address was in Ipswich, exactly where they had been searching for Brighton. The only way to find out was to check the address…but Hermione was finding it difficult to muster up the courage and effort to do such a thing.

Fear was finally settling in. Draco was gone, just like Ron, just like her parents. And with every passing second this became more real to her. She had never felt quite so acutely alone before in her life. A stupid little glimmer of hope told her Draco must have still been alive. But Hermione didn't know if she could believe it. So much time on a stupid case and no answers. No answers at all, it felt as though she were a hamster, running in her wheel, over and over again. And there was somebody looking into her cage and laughing at her idiocy. She was being played, played for a total fool. Whoever these people were, they were far smarter than dim henchmen. They had managed to erase almost all of their clues leaving on a silly name and an empty folder. They had even erased Draco because he must have found something out. He must have…there would have been no other reason to attack him. After all, Draco was a pureblood, if these were deatheaters there wasn't a chance they would risk harming him.

Hermione scrambled off the floor, the piece of paper clutched in her hand. She ran to the door and down the stairs.

* * *

"Harry!" Hermione yelled running into the office like a raving lunatic.

Harry looked up from Genesee Norton's stall to see Hermione running towards him. Her face flushed her hair awry, but a look of determination on her face. "Hermione?" he looked down to the end of the hall at the large metal file room door, when had she gotten out? "What's wrong?" he asked as she came to a halt before him.

"I have an address" she said waving a tiny piece of paper in his face.

Harry frowned and raised his brows, "I'm sure you do. I do as well" he said before turning back to Genesee.

"No you bloody idiot!" Hermione screamed. "An address! Draco wrote it down! I think he found Zach Brighton's address!" Hermione said breathlessly as she leant against the cubicle wall.

Harry frowned, "let me see it" he said.

Hermione handed it over.

"I'll take this to Kingsley" Harry said stuffing the paper into his pocket and walking away. Hermione stared at him in disbelief. Was that it? Harry had barely even looked at her. Something wasn't right even in the ministry. Hermione pulled out the real note out of her own pocket. She was going to check it out on her own.

* * *

"Why am I being watched by you?" Haleigh muttered as she stared down Sveen. She had been trapped in her apartment with the solid stone auror since Hermione had left nearly four hours ago. Haleigh was peeved. Beyond peeved, she was livid, she would have cursed the damn man had she had her wand on her. Unfortunately her wand had been taken by Hermione and left who knew where. She could feel her eye twitching unpleasantly.

"Hermione's reckons you have a hand in this whole people dying business" he said simply as he seated himself down onto the couch beside her, "You're here with me dear, at least until Hermione gives me the a-okay to let you go"

"What grounds do you have for holding me? Is there no one else I can contact?" she asked angrily.

"Every possible reason. You are under suspicion of Draco Malfoy's disappearance and the theft of ministry documents. So you got only me for now. Unless you want to be questioned mercilessly about Malfoy's disappearance at this very second" Dennis said with a straight face.

Haleigh didn't reply. There was not a chance she wanted to get sucked into any unnecessary questioning. "I have to use the bathroom" she said standing.

"I'll come with you" Dennis said following her to the door.

"You can stay out there" Haleigh said as she stepped into her bathroom.

She had no wand, no large vents, and no windows in the bathroom; there was no way for her to escape, if she should have desired to do so. "Alright" Dennis said as Haleigh shut the door.

* * *

"Not alibi…juiced?" Hermione muttered as she walked down a pleasant lane in Ipswich. Draco's notes made no sense. Alright, who's alibi? For what? Had Draco meant alias? If that was the case then Hermione could have assumed that Zach Brighton was real. But Draco clearly wrote "_not alibi_". Hermione just couldn't grasp what he meant. Who had an alibi in the first place? This meant that Draco just knew more that Hermione had even thought. She was left even further away from the truth now. For all the good it did her he might as well have written something in completely gibberish.

And _juiced_? What the hell was that about? Juiced for what? Was that slang for something, drugs, potions, poisoning? Maybe he meant they were weaponless, Hermione recalled someone using a term like that in a muggle movie. Or maybe that was juiced for drugs…she couldn't recall, and she didn't really care. All of this was causing her brain to spin unpleasantly. All Hermione knew was that if she didn't find answers soon she would become a suicide risk. She was already considering stepping off a fifty story building. But the only thing that kept her going was the fact that she knew most. And she was the only real help available to Draco.

Harry had seemed to oddly withdrawn. He had just taken the copied address from her and walked away. There had been something very cold in his demeanor. It had almost felt as though he was teasing her for some reason. Hermione couldn't see why, but she was frustrated herself with the whole thing. Every lead she had though meant something had fallen into the crapper.

The address was beginning to confuse her as well. She was walking down a perfectly respectable community street. Little kids were running about, an ice-cream cart was going by…this was nothing like the dingy alley she had been in before where the bar had resided. A shiver ran through her body as she recalled the empty home of the bar owner. What could have run him out so quickly? Or who…whatever the case it must have been very threatening to him. How many people were involved, how many people knew more than her. The bar owner must have known, for he had fled. So what was this operation, this was starting to seem like something much more than personal? It no longer felt like she was the one in danger. Nor Harry…no there had barely been anyone acting against her.

It was all so well orchestrated, so well crafted that not even all of the ministry's best could do anything to figure out the situation…

Hermione stopped and checked the house number. This was it. It was a tall Edwardian home with red brick, white stucco and black wooden framing. A garden was well kept out front and a wrought iron gate outlined the property. It looked like a family home to her; it resembled her own house in a few areas. Hermione stopped right at the gate and gazed up at the home. She looked back behind her at the small children running about. Perhaps she had gotten it wrong? Perhaps this was just a random address Draco had written. What if she had been so blinded and desperate that she had made herself believe it meant something?

It had been almost nineteen hours since Draco had disappeared. Only five since she had left Haleigh. Four since she had found out that vital piece of information, three and four quarters since Harry had snubbed her. Two since she decided to actually go see the address for herself. Half an hour since she had been able to act on that decision. Three minutes since she had come to stand before the beautiful house. Thirty seconds since Hermione realized just how dangerous this could be.

And thirteen years she had been living in turmoil. Who was surprised?

She pulled out the paper and looked at it once more. The ink wasn't faded, the paper not creased or torn greatly. It was recently written…

Well, she would never know just standing at the railing. Hermione placed her hand on the gate door and pushed gently, it creaked with the pressure.

* * *

Draco woke to the sound of whimpering. He couldn't recall when he had fallen asleep, nor for how long he had been sleeping. Had another day passed, or perhaps thirty. His whole body still felt groggy and nothing seemed to be focusing. His eyes were killing him, his ears straining to hear, his whole body numb.

He opened his mouth to say something, but then bit his lip unsurely. Was it his mind playing tricks on him? If not, was it safe to say anything? He heard the soft crying again, it sounded like a woman. It couldn't hurt to make himself known "Hello?" he whispered softly.

"Draco?" they hiccupped in reply.

"Haleigh?" he asked in confusion. His brain was reeling. How had Haleigh gotten in here? It made no sense at all. It was impossible according to the way he had pieced together the puzzle. Maybe this was a trap?

"Draco! Is that you?" she cried in relief.

"Yeah it's me…how did you get here?" he asked quickly, deciding if it was a trap it was best to play along as the oblivious idiot.

"I don't know…I don't remember much about it…I just blacked out while in the washroom and here I am now" she said with a small sigh. Draco could hear the fatigue in her voice. He felt uneasy. "I'm not even sure how long I've been here. It's hard to tell when you can't bloody see anything" she said in frustration.

"Are you tied up?" he asked.

"Yeah" she said in resign.

"Haleigh? What did you find out about Zach Brighton?" Draco asked slowly. He needed to know now; he couldn't bear to keep himself in suspense for much longer. It was important that he knew the extent of her knowledge now.

"Nothing, I didn't even manage to take a real good look at it before I ended up here" she said bitterly.

"What?" Draco said loudly.

* * *

**A/N:** I would like to apologize for my shit updating lately. It's been exam time and I've been really stressed and I just haven't been able to find the time or effort to write and read. So I hope you can all find it in your hearts to forgive me. And now school is over! Woot! Until September, and even though I'll be working full time I'll be better about updating since I won't have homework. So yeah, this was the 'throwing it all out there' chapter. See if you can draw some clues together on your own. The story finally kicks in. Lol, 14 chapters in we finally see some real plot. Alright, thank you all! I hope you enjoyed reading and continue to do so.


	15. C'Mon, C'Mon

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: C'Mon C'Mon

_Is it safe to say? (c'mon c'mon)  
Was it right to leave? (c'mon c'mon)  
Will I never learn? (c'mon c'mon)  
(c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon)_

And know this day these deepened wounds don't heal so fast  
Can't hear me croon of a million lies that speak no truth  
Of a time gone by that now is through

Von Bondies "C'Mon, C'Mon"

* * *

Hermione knocked on the door and waited uneasily, shifting from one foot to the other like a restless five year old. It was stupid of her to come alone, and to come so unprepared. But Hermione trusted no one at the moment but herself. Even that was a moot point; she could have been under any number of enchantments that had led her to here and now.

The only reason she had to believe she was still herself was her boundless terror. Under enchantment, the victim usually displayed calmness, and assuredness, and she felt none of these things. There was an immense pressure that surrounded her, the edges of infinite blades on every point of her flesh. Any step Hermione took could kill her, anyone could do so, anyone... but she could not stand still for the life of her. She could not stand motionless and let everything halt along with her. The world had already stopped in a sense. It no longer moved in accordance with her. It was a though Hermione, and all of her factors had been blinked out of existence in order to preserve the security of everyone else. A very false security at that.

She could feel the bile bubbling from her stomach to her tongue, the cool sweat on her palms, the twitch in her eye; these were all indicators of disquiet. Not just disquiet of the moment, but of her whole world in the moment. Every move by everyone around her was so stilted, like a tape that was beginning to jam in the vcr. Harry's movements seemed poorly calculated, with all the intent of making no mistake, but leaving immense holes in his act. He was showing his calculations recklessly like a novice. Hermione had always been able to read him like an open book.

Everything from the change in his expressions, to the straight line of his back whenever he faced her, to the tremble in his right hand when she asked a specific question, none of these things had existed a mere few weeks ago. How could so much have changed without Hermione noticing these things?

Hermione felt a horrible jolt run through her. Nothing had changed suddenly...these things too time to come around.

The little eyehole cover swung open, and then shut, causing Hermione to lurch back in surprise, all of her thoughts falling like lead to the ground, forgotten. She grasped her wand tightly in her jacket pocket. All of her nerve endings were on fire, her senses so acutely alert.

The door opened quietly.

* * *

Harry knocked on Kingsley's door with his knuckles; he shifted his papers from one arm to the other. The door opened and Kingsley ushered Harry in quickly, taking a swift glance into the hall behind. Inconspicuousness didn't appear to be his forte. Seeing nobody lingering about Kingsley shut the door.

"This is idiotic" Harry said before Kingsley could even turn to face him.

"It's not for you to say Potter" he replied evenly.

"I think it's come to that time where I need to say it. And I've been saying it for a while Kingsley. I can't sit around anymore. I can't watch this crap go on. What happened to justice, what happened to freedom and love!" Harry spouted, dropping the papers angrily on Kingsley's desk and glaring menacingly. His cheeks flushed with red, and his glasses sliding down his nose.

"Sit your ass down Potter; nobody gives a bloody damn about your righteous spew!" Kingsley yelled "You know why this is important, and you know what the opposite results could be" he said in his deep and grave voice.

Harry sat reluctantly, folding his arms over his chest; his expression darkened severely.

"You know she's gone" Harry muttered, his eyes drifting to Kingsley's corner bookcase. There was a small picture of the Order in his fifth year in a silver frame sitting on the third shelf. Everyone waved back happily at him. "She went straight into the file corridor and never came back out. I can't imagine where she is"

"Who?" Kingsley asked. Harry felt his face grow even hotter, was Kingsley really so stupid. Or was he playing the game safely and remaining dumb?

"Hermione, that's who" Harry seethed.

"That's no good" Kingsley mumbled, turning away from Harry and to his window, his hands clasped behind his broad back.

"No, it's anything but good. So what do we do now?" Harry asked.

* * *

"What the bloody hell do you mean Haleigh?" Draco cried, his voice breaking in two places.

"I mean, I grabbed the bloody folder, went home, took a damn piss, and when I opened my eyes I was here" she replied angrily. He could hear the tears that threatened to break through her calm facade at any moment.

"That was nearly three days ago" he groaned loudly, rolling his eyes behind the blindfold.

"Really?" she asked obliviously, "That seems like quite a while ago" she added, for more idiotic effect.

"Yes, it was, especially considering I saw you last night as well" Draco mumbled softly, doing quick calculations in his head. His mind was already spurring out of control, trying to figure out if he knew anyone who had disappeared at the same time that the new Haleigh had appeared.

Haleigh made no reply. Draco assumed she was processing this information as well "No..." she gasped, her voice almost comic in its obliviousness. "You mean-"

"Yes, somebody conked you on the crapped, tore off your hair, and is now impersonating you!" he growled angrily. If only he could have moved, he would have given her a good thwack. What had he seen in her in the first place?

"Uh-oh" she whispered.

Now that Draco was back around the real Haleigh, he could notice subtle differences, and those not so subtle differences between her and the imposter. The real Haleigh was a blithering idiot. The person whom he had been spending the last three days with had appeared calmer, more reserved, and less talkative. How could he have not noticed? And of course this explained the sparse contents of the folder. Half of the information was missing, taken by someone else. And only basic information remained, carelessly left behind. It was better than nothing though. At least they had something to go on. Wait. Who had something to go on? Certainly not him and Haleigh, because they couldn't go anywhere! He could have kicked himself for not telling Hermione. It was very unlikely she would find any of the information he had managed to scrounge up. He had left it lying all over the place in the manor. But not in any obvious places.

Still, Draco hadn't imagined the situation was quite this ghastly. He knew Haleigh was too stupid to be in the ranks of these other people, but he had been certain she was being victimized; he had been planning to use the information on Brighton as an experiment. Figure out who was also in need of this information. But he had been too late; he hadn't realized that _Haleigh_ herself was going to nab it.

A cold chill ran down his back, causing him to break out in a cool sweat. If Haleigh was here with him, then there was somebody else out there. The thought was so obvious, how could it have occurred to him so late. It made him want to kick himself again. Somebody else was following Granger, and continuing their vile plans...and she didn't know. He needed to get out, and soon. Granger was totally unsuspecting; he had left her in a nasty position. She was totally blind to what could be occurring around her. Especially if she was still working with the phoney Haleigh.

"Draco?"

"Yes Haleigh?"

"I think I just heard footsteps"

* * *

"You're not Travers" Hermione whispered in speculation.

The man before her was far too young to be Travers. In fact, he couldn't have been older than thirty.

"Not here on the street, get inside" the man muttered stepping aside.

Hermione walked into his house, against her better judgment. But the neighbourhood was so pleasant that it didn't feel scary. The inside of the house was painted in light neutrals, and clothed with airy fabrics.

"Through to the kitchen" he muttered ushering her quickly through the hallway. Hermione kept a tight grip on her wand.

"Daddy?"

Hermione jumped a meter at the sound of a child's voice. She flicked around to stare at a toddler girl on the second landing who was looking through the staircase bars. "Go to your room, Daddy will be done soon" the man said pleasantly. The child nodded and ran down the hallway, disappearing into a room. The child made this whole situation different. Apparently Hermione hadn't come the place she had thought. This was not a criminal hideout, or an evil genius' hidden island, this was a family home.

What connection did this man have to Draco? And did that connection have anything to do with case at all, what if she was going on a blind mission. What if this was his personal masseuse. She didn't even know what to ask. If only she knew what he did.

He pushed her through the door at the end of the hall and into a bright and airy kitchen.

"Have a seat" the man muttered.

Hermione sat tentatively on a chair at his kitchen table. There were plenty of pictures lining the walls of his family. A wife and child, it looked so pleasant.

"Can I get you something to drink?" he asked sitting across from her.

Hermione's eyebrows flew up her forehead. "No I'm fine" she whispered.

"Right, straight to business then" he sighed, he got up and walked over to his kitchen counter, pulling out what appeared to be a set of forms. Where had Hermione come?

"Right" she echoed.

"Okay, who recommended you?" the man asked quickly, grabbing a quill from his coat pocket. Well, at least it was clear she was in a wizards house now.

Hermione decided it would be safest to go with the truth in this case, "Draco Malfoy" she answered.

The man looked up at her in amazement, "I wasn't aware that Mr. Malfoy had my contacts, he's never required my services. But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised" he added with a friendly smile.

She could barely smile back. So far, so good.

"And what kind of potion can I brew for you today Miss Granger?" he asked leaning back in his chair.

Hermione's mouth popped open. "How do you-"

"You're quite a recognizable face, I'm sure most people would know you. I'm just wondering why such an intelligent and young auror would require my service" he frowned. He appeared to be thinking about something "I'm sure you could brew most of the potions that I offer, aside from the one with banned ingredients. Or if you're planning something particularly illegal that you don't want to be connected with. Is that what you're after?" he asked with wide eyes, leaning towards her. "You should know, those take a good three weeks for competition."

"No that's not what I'm here for"

"And you should also know I haven't any Acromantula venom either at this moment. Dreadful stuff, and quite a pretty penny expensive too" he sighed "I got some Jobberknoll feathers in today" he added.

"Um sir" Hermione began slowly.

"Dan" he replied.

"Dan, I'm not here to buy illegal potions" Hermione said softly "Or the legal ones" she added for good measure. He was a simple potion brewer, who brewed illegal potions and draughts on the side. There were bound to be more like him.

"Then what are you here for? You're not going to take me in, are you?" he asked suddenly worried, "I have a family" he said quickly.

"No Dan, I need information. I won't compromise your security though. I just need to ask you some questions and then I'll be on my way" Hermione insisted.

"You won't give me away" he asked worriedly again.

"No, if I did that I would be in just as much trouble as you" Hermione said bitterly.

"Okay, what do you need to know" he asked nervously.

Hermione took a deep breath and began.

* * *

Harry opened the door to Haleigh's apartment. Hermione wasn't at her home, nor at Draco's, so now he was going from door to door searching for her, and this seemed as good a place as any.

It was a complete mess in her apartment. As was to be expected of an intern, his own apartment had looked similar back in the good old days. Upon a second look the mess was beyond carelessness, this was a total destruction of her apartment. Almost immediately shivers ran up and down his body. Something was off. The place was ransacked.

Harry stepped around her couch, and found the exact thing that was off. There was a man lying on the ground beside the coffee table. Harry kicked him over to get a look at his face. It was Sveen, an auror he had never particularly liked much, not that the man deserved this death.

His chest was covered in blood, wounds and gashes. This wasn't a wizard death; someone had come at him with a objet of force. A wand would have left much neater cuts. Harry crouched down nearer to him, he spotted Sveen's wand a good meter away by the TV. He must have been so startled that he hadn't seen it coming.

So Sveen had been watching Haleigh. Well, his suspicions about Haleigh were now cemented. But at the same time she was nowhere to be found. Harry sighed and straightened up, looking around for the murder weapon.

Now Hermione and Draco were missing, and Haleigh was as well. He didn't know where to start. And the one place he could start from would be the first place Kingsley would set up a roadblock for him. Harry was trapped, he couldn't possibly help. The best he could do at the moment was to clean up the mess, and keep the accident as silent as possible. That would be the most helpful thing he could offer right now.

* * *

"Alright, could you give me names?" Hermione asked with a sigh.

"No, that would be breaking confidentiality" Dan said seriously.

"Dan, these people are murderers" Hermione replied.

"You don't' know that" he muttered.

"They're as good as. They're all involved in this sick string of deaths surrounding me and my friends. I need to find them" Hermione frowned.

"I can't give you the names" he repeated.

"Dan, I can assure you they won't come after you" Hermione said softly.

"How can you do that? They'll trace you to me" he muttered.

"No they won't. They have absolutely no reason to. I recommend you tell me the names and then move house immediately, and set up another fidelius charm" Hermione suggested.

"I don't know that I can do that" he whispered.

"They'll come back for you anyway Dan, do you think that once you've served your duty they'll let you keep living with all of the information you know?" Hermione said, throwing a low blow.

"Who would I tell my new location to?" he asked tiredly.

"Who's your current secret keeper?" Hermione asked.

"Kingsley" he muttered.

Hermione would have staggered back if she hadn't been sitting. "The prime minister is hiding your location?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah" Dan said, uncertainty creeping into his voice due to her odd reaction.

"That's the most dangerous person whom you could have entrusted that to at the moment" Hermione said sadly. Dan didn't look as confused as she had thought he would.

"So it has gone that far" he muttered, "Alright, I'll tell you the names, and I'll move. But you will be my new secret keeper" he said "Because chances are you'll die soon enough anyway" a hint of a wry smile tilted his lips.

He pulled his wand out of his jacket, and Hermione involuntarily flinched.

Dan then reached back over to his forms and grabbed a couple of sheet of loose leaf paper. He wrote upon them. "This" he said handing her the first one "Is the address of my summer home, nobody knows about it but my family".

Hermione quickly memorized the address, and looked back at him. He took her hand and drew his wand down her palm, making a deep enough cut to draw just a few slivers of blood. Hermione pressed her hand to the sheet of paper. He then did the same to his own hand and pressed his blood mark over hers.

"Do you know the enchantment?" he asked her.

Hermione nodded, she took the bloody paper and held it tightly in her hand, repeating the address in her head, "I solemnly swear, upon my soul, and my physical body, that I shall not betray this secret I have been blessed with, and that I shall take with me to my shallow grave, lest I allow myself to become unworthy of being a wizard, and a true friend. I shall be your keeper" The paper burst into flames in her hand. The flames licked her fingers and sunk into them, disappearing quickly. A heavy weight sunk into her heart, the charm was finally in place.

Dan pulled the second piece of paper over towards him as Hermione quickly healed her palm. "Here are the names" he mumbled quickly scrawling. "Now I must ask you to leave, for I have some packing to do" he added sadly.

"Thank you Dan" Hermione said earnestly as she pushed the paper into her jacket pocket and allowed him to lead her to the door. He opened the door for her and they stood on the threshold.

"I wish you the best of luck Miss Granger, for in dealing with these people, you shall need it" he whispered before shutting the door in her face.

Hermione let out a low whistle and turned to the street. Now she had something to go on. These people had been purchasing highly illegal potions, and a certain potion which Dan had told her wasn't even known to the ministry. Something he had concocted himself, a type of polyjuice potion that was so potent it only required being drank once a month in order to be effective. On their receipts there were also many treacherous ingredients including belladonna, Re'em blood, and valerian. All of these items were seriously fatal in the wrong doses, and could cause catastrophic effects upon the body. What could they use poison, super strength, and a fatal sleep root for?

There would be no time to find out. The sun was setting and Draco was still missing. Hermione couldn't take it slow. She needed to get on this. Spencer Faller and Cecil Halle were about to get an unpleasant visit from her.

* * *

**A/N**_: _I'm back and with a vengence. I've been on somewhat of an extended holiday. If you actually care as to where I'v been, PM me and I'll gush on about it. If you're just glad that I'm flipping back already. Well, then enjoy!

Ana


	16. Don't Step On the Cracks

Chapter 16: Don't Step On The Cracks

**A/N: **I don't own Harry Potter. I hope this chapter stars to move the story along quickly, and if you don't remember what's going on...maybe review?It get kinda violent in the next few chapters. Tehehe...

* * *

Hermione kicked the door open a little more vehemently than she had original intended. In fact she had been expecting the wooden front doors to be much heavier than they were under her foot. Or maybe it was the adrenaline coursing through her that made them seem like plywood. They flew open all too easily, hitting the walls with a rattling force, and startling the four house elves having an intense discussion in the foyer.

"Madame?" squeaked the one in the purple robe, throwing his hands in the air, as if caught in a guilty act. The other three elves quickly disappeared in puffs of smoke.

"Get out of my way elf" Hermione said coolly as she stormed past the lone elf and right up the stairs towards Draco's room. She needed to find it, any of it, where had he hid the information?

"Madame?" the house elf called urgently following her up the stairs "Master is not at home, no he isn't, isn't indeed!" it said breathlessly as it clambered up the stairs behind her. Hermione wasn't listening.

She blasted the door to Draco's room open with her wand and locked it quickly behind her. It was somewhere here, it must have been. Hermione refused to believe that Draco was as slipshod or thick as he pretended to be. It wasn't in his character to be apathetic regarding important things; he would have removed the documents from Haleigh's grasp almost immediately after she had fetched them. Even if it may have been too late, Haleigh would have certainly gotten a good glimpse of whatever the contents were.

They must have been placed somewhere safe, somewhere out of harms reach, but where? It was absolutely infuriating that there was an answer somewhere in this house and Hermione couldn't find it. "Accio Brighton folder" Hermione called in vain. Not a stir in the room. Of course it wouldn't have worked, ministry items were protected against such spells, but desperation was making her do ridiculous things. Hermione could only presume that Draco had hidden it somewhere in his home, this was one of the safest, and strongest magical buildings aside from Hogwarts.

The papers could only have landed in his hands after being taken out by Haleigh; Hermione hadn't even managed to touch them. If it wasn't here, it meant she had to go back to Haleigh in order to find it. And at the moment, Hermione was not above using torture to get what she needed. Hopefully Sveen was managing alright with the wench; Haleigh didn't seem dangerous in the immediate sense, not at the moment anyway.

Hermione turned over the drawers in his desk, ink bottles exploded on the floors, quills clattered, and some receipts flew around as well. But nothing that caught her eye. She went back to the desk where she had found the note 'not alibi, juiced'.

Juiced...obviously polyjuice potion. Somebody was using that dangerous concoction right now. But Hermione couldn't even fathom as to whom. Everyone seemed so strange lately, and she couldn't go around accusing people, it would only pull her into another snag. She needed to go see the distributers, find out just how far the juice had traveled, but going at them without the slightest idea of what awaited her was frightening. If they had had past offences, Hermione may have been able to find more content at the ministry, but at the moment, it was not somewhere she felt welcome. So, it all fell to Draco. Just one mention of either of their names would be enough, anything at all.

And what about the alibi? As far as Hermione's vast knowledge stretched she knew an alibi was something used in muggle court procedures, a form of defence where a defendant tried to prove they were elsewhere when the crime occurred? But what did that have to do with the polyjuice potion, and which exact crime? Did the word have another meaning in the wizarding sense?

"Argh" she cried as she slouched down on the floor, leaning against his bed. Hermione looked around at the mess she had made, she swiftly waved her wand and the ink bottles went back to one piece, filled with black fluid. The quills and papers stacked themselves on the desk. Hermione leaned over to grab a piece of paper that had caught under the foot of Draco's bedside table. She looked at it in vague interest. It was a receipt...for potion ingredients...for a moment she forgot to breath.

"Halle's Enchanted Emporium "she read out loud. The store was on the bizarre corner that separated Diagon Ally from Knockturn. But Halle was one of the listed dealers, so why was someone who already owned a magical store selling other people's potions? Hermione picked herself up off the floor. Perhaps visiting Halle at his store was better than going to his house; at least it was a public place. Hermione cast another desperate look around the room, but saw nothing that peaked her interest. Time was ticking. Draco was gone for a full day; she'd already left Haleigh with Sveen for six hours...she barely had a day left to figure this all out. After forty-eight hours, it was difficult to hope for a good outcome for a missing person.

* * *

Draco wasn't breathing. And he was certain that Haleigh wasn't either. They both sat silently, listening to the footsteps creaking above them, neither getting louder or softer. Someone was directly pacing above them, back and forth, as though they were thinking hard. Draco tried to revive his wits and focus on his environment. Behind his blindfold he didn't have any concept of space, no idea how large the room was. He was tied to a chair which was attached to the floor, so he couldn't even stand, for all he knew the ceiling could have been only a few centimetres above him. This may have been less a room, and more a closet. There were no small shafts of light, so no openings, and no drafts either. The room was at a perfect temperature. They were not outside, and there was clearly heating wherever they were.

Another set of footsteps thundered above him. He could hear a much muffled exchange, but couldn't make out any details. And yet another person...this person laughed. Their footsteps as they left were clicks, not stomps, it was a female. Draco was beginning to think they were in a very public place, but, he didn't exactly want to risk calling out. As far as he knew, they were in the lion's den, and making their captors more aware of them was not a good tactic for survival. The other two people began to walk away, talking. When Draco could no longer hear them, he turned in Haleigh's direction "Can you touch anything? Can you see?" he whispered, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

"I can't see anything, I'm blindfolded...but I'm on the ground. It feels like wood, parquet flooring. And the wall is smooth against my back and warm...and I think if I press my ear to it, I can hear plumbing" she whispered back.

So they weren't in the middle of nowhere. Draco wondered if the people who had been above them even knew they were there. He couldn't understand why they wouldn't stomp on the floor to frighten them, or even less why they would randomly choose to have a conversation right above their heads.

"Haleigh, has anybody visited you in these three days? Have you tried calling for help?" he asked anxiously.

"I tried calling for help, but I think this was the first time I've even heard people above me..." she muttered softly, "and if anyone's been down here, it must have been while I was asleep"

"There's someone who's impersonating you out there" he said in a terse tone "And Hermione doesn't know it"

"What could they want...?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he said in irritation, "They want Hermione dead"

"But why impersonate me?" she questioned prodding, and with a trace of doubt in her voice.

"You were new, someone we didn't know; someone we had to work with" he explained tiredly, and rolled his eyes behind the blindfold.

"Yeah, all the more reason to not choose me. Hermione's not stupid, those reasons you listed are the exact reasons she would distrust me" Haleigh replied.

"Maybe under normal circumstance, but these things that have been occurring aren't by any means normal, and I think Hermione is having trouble keeping a grasp on reality..." he frowned.

"Well, you don't give her enough credit or me for that matter" Haleigh said scornfully. "I had to complete all of the same courses and tests that you did to be where I am today. So don't take me for an idiot. _And_ I'm still not buying this 'oooh let's kill of the golden trio' carp"

"Well, it seemed pretty obvious to me" Draco muttered. He wasn't enjoying being questioned by someone with less authority and experience than him.

"But isn't that the issue? It's so obvious...it feel like someone is making a mess of things, causing havoc and making everyone run around like chickens without heads..." she said, in a slow calculated voice, as though measuring just how far she could take her theory with Draco.

"Go on" he said grudgingly.

"Well, doesn't it seem like the perfect cover up for something else?" she asked.

"Any theories?"

"I just think there are better ways to destroy the wizarding world than to kill off war heroes. Killing Weasley, Potter, and Hermione would only break moral, but it wouldn't send the wizarding world crumbling...I just feel like...every clue we find, we think that we're on to something...but the trail keeps going and going, and we keep searching, but never discovering anything. Real trails end somewhere...but trails with fabricated information are too confusing to draw any conclusions from..." she explained unsurely.

"I know" Draco frowned.

"You know?" Haleigh said in surprise.

"Yeah, I pretty much figured something was off when I went to Mungo's to get a fix on Weasley's body..."

"How?"

"There was no evidence" he said "Aside from that note...there was no physical evidence...at all. Not even evidence that it could have been removed. Also, no traces of magic in the area when I tried to look for trails. Cold, as if it had been that way for days"

"And, all of our evidence...and our leads..."

"Come from the ministry" Draco concluded.

They sat in silence for a few minutes contemplating this new treacherous theory. A theory, if they were ever rescued from their current location, that would certainly put them in a more serious danger. Treason.

"I still don't understand..." Haleigh stuttered "I don't understand how..."

"How what?" Draco asked, prompting her.

"How I was attacked in my own house..., you know, by this bloody person who's impersonating me. I _have_ anti-apparition charms in my flat. And not only that, but I don't recall seeing anyone, or anything strange in my home. It was completely normal..." she said in confusion. Her words were strained and choppy, she was very confused.

"So?"

"So, the only way someone could have come into my home, was if they walked through the front door with me" she concluded.


	17. Mistaken for Strangers

Chapter Seventeen: Mistaken for Strangers

**A/N: **I don't own Harry Potter. Also, I realized that I've caught up in word count to Sic Transit, and yet am nowhere near done this story. Gah! Why have I done this to myself? Well, enjoy the chapter. And please comment. It does give me incentive and desire to write more quickly.

* * *

"Walked in beside you?" Draco repeated a mixture of uncertainty and incredulity in his voice. His body felt numb, either from shock, or the fact that he hadn't stood up all day. But he could feel his skin ripple on his bones, worry eating at him.

"Yes, the only way someone could have entered my house was if they came in the door with me, it's the only loophole of approval. But I'm always careful to check that nobody is around when I enter my house" Haleigh said in exasperation.

"Did you only protect your home from intruders, would it allow people who have received your express permission to enter before back in?" he asked, unsure of what magic Haleigh had used to protect her home.

"I don't know…but I've never invited someone dangerous into my house anyway, I'm not stupid"

'_Funny how you keep repeating that'_ thought Draco cynically.

"It wouldn't make sense that any of the people who've visited me before would do this" she concluded. Draco imagined her to be shaking her head in disbelief as she said this; he was shaking his own head too.

"Like who? Who's been to your flat before?" he inquired, pressing the matter further. Everyone in the whole world were suspects in a case that had no answers. In Draco's mind, it didn't seem all that implausible that Haleigh's owl could have committed these murders.

Haleigh went silent, she seemed to be thinking. If it was going to take her this long to come up with a list, it was pointless to hypothesis about it at all. So many people could have crossed her threshold, and if Draco couldn't pinpoint the charms she used, it would be impossible to decipher any possibility as to who was out there impersonating her.

"You, and Hermione, my mother, my best friend, Kingsley and Potter…"

"Potter? Kingsley?" Draco spat.

"Yes, how do you think I was hired? They came to my home to request me to work on the case" Haleigh replied tersely, "What; you don't think they're involved seriously, do you?"

Draco didn't reply. He wasn't sure whether the two of them were involved. He found it difficult to believe that Potter had any involvement in this game, it seemed impossible that he would do his friends harm. Kingsley, Draco didn't know nearly as well as he thought he knew Potter. Kingsley had all the qualities of a trustworthy person, silent and stoic, with a deep charming voice, all the same qualities of a conman. "Do you?" he asked.

"I don't think Potter, or other people working there are involved. And I'd like to think neither is the Minister. When we were hypothesizing about there being a mole in the ministry, I didn't exactly have such high ranked people in mind. Though it would be more obvious that they have greater control of ministry content than others…but isn't it just as possible that Potter and the Minister received faulty information? They put their faith in potion masters, aurors and healers to compile evidence…people who have access to just about every facet of the wizarding world" she muttered, faltering eventually.

"Do _you_ know any of the people who worked at either of the two crime scenes?" Draco asked her.

"Well, yeah…" she said scoffing "that Parkinson girl was the healer who examined Weasley's body. She was the one who declared it a magical death even though there were no traces of magic found by the _misuse of magic_ officials. I thought you were familiar with her. Didn't you know?" Haleigh said dismissively.

Draco threw his head back tiredly. He had never considered that Parkinson had seen the body, let alone made the official statement on it. And he had been so close to her only a short while ago. It was true he had never examined the body himself. Kingsley and Potter had kept it secretive, so as not to cause a panic. But Draco wondered now about how strange it was that he and Hermione, two people involved in the case had not been able to examine the hard evidence before it was buried firmly in the ground. Through everything that happened, all events kept revolved around Weasley's death. That was the trigger, and Draco was certain that there lay the answer.

* * *

Hermione pushed the thick windowless door open. A small bell tinkled and announced her arrival on the premises. The store was surprisingly circular. The back half of the store was covered in glass jars, sitting on rows and rows of shelves, filled to the brim with potions materials, some she recognized, others foreign to her. The front of the store, through which she now carefully maneuvered around, was a clutter of beakers, pots, _foreverflames,_ masks and brewing devices. Some books were precariously stacked on the floor as well. Hermione saw a huge tank of live newts, snakes, and frogs on the left wall, which she firmly avoided, since the lid did not look firmly attached.

There was no one in the store but her. "Cecil Halle?" she called out as bravely as she could. Nobody replied to her summon. Hermione moved over to the counter. She leant forward to see the other side. Quills, scribbled parchment, some receipts, and what looked like a disastrous potion recipe were scattered on the other side.

"Cecil Halle?" she called again, aiming her voice through the curtain behind the counter, which aptly had a sign hung on the wall next to it, _"If you pass the curtain without acquiescence, be prepared to suffer a grievance" _Hermione wondered how serious that threat was. She moved around the counter and pulled the curtain back, "Cecil Halle? Are you here? _Homenum Revelio_" There was nobody else here but her.

Hermione stepped through the curtain to the back room. There were crates of ingredients sitting all over the floor. What looked like a brewing area was set up towards the back, with a large black pot releasing toxic looking yellow fumes. Hermione passed it without much investigation. A couple of file cabinets stood against the wall next to a rickety looking desk. "_Alohamora_" Hermione whispered pointing her wand at the handle. The drawer didn't move. They were enchanted. She frowned and looked around the room. There was no back exist anywhere, meaning if Cecil Halle left the store, he left through the front door. And didn't lock it behind him? He hadn't even flipped over the open sign.

Yet, the store was as clean as possible. It didn't look as though he left under the threat of physical force. Hermione approached the pot with the yellow vapors. She sniffed at it curiously. Hermione could smell asphodel, which gave off a pungent and mothy flower smell. There was valerian root in there as well. Both used in particularly strong sleep inducing potions. She also thought she saw a bit of erumpent horn floating about, but perhaps that was only her imagination. What could he have been brewing? Erumpent horn was incredibly volatile, even in a potion. And to leave this mixture untended was like asking for his whole store to explode to bits. Hermione jerked back quickly, she had barely noticed, but suddenly from within the boiling potion a unicorn eye had floated to the surface. She clasped her hand over her mouth and looked away, trying to not be sick. How horrible! It was an awful sight to see young unicorn horn on sale anywhere, but to completely massacre a creature like that for ingredients. Disgusting, and illegal.

Hermione quickly walked back to the front of the store. She held the counter tightly while she collected herself. Whoever this man was, supplying Dan with ingredients, he was dangerous. Anybody sick or stupid enough to use the ingredients he used should be put on the desirable criminal list. Hermione took a deep breath, summoned a vial and stopper and walked back through the curtain to the boiling pot. She siphoned a bit of the dark yellow potion into her vial and closed it firmly. She would investigate this later. Hermione walked back out to the front of the store and took a last look around. There didn't seem to be anything else for her to do here.

There were muffled voices approached from outside. Hermione froze. Even though she was in a public place, and not explicitly doing any wrong, she suddenly felt very unwanted in her current position. And she did not wish to be found here. The door handle turned, Hermione ducked behind the counter, making herself as small as possible behind the trash bin on the floor. The bell tinkled.

"Halle? You here?"

Footsteps passed her, and she heard the curtain being jerked aside. "Where is that barney idiot now?"

"Do you think he ran?"

"I suppose so. He probably couldn't reach Dan, and so he bailed, thinking the worst. I would have done the same"

"Hmmm, yes. The question of Dan's disappearance is a very serious one"

"What now? Without him we're stuck. Who else could we possibly find to do the job? Even Faller has bailed. We can't go on much longer without a new batch, our situation could become volatile"

"Quiet fool. Do not speak so loud"

The two men became silent, and Hermione stopped breathing. Her head was reeling, and there was a cramp in her leg, the pain throbbing and strong, she couldn't crouch here much longer. Not after what she had heard.

"We will continue this discussion somewhere else. And decide what to do accordingly."

"What about our…_other_ issue?"

A sigh "I do not know. It was…unexpected, even for me. But it's contained for the time being"

"I think you have the wrong one contained" muttered the other man, clearly disapproving.

"It does not matter, as long as it does not arouse suspicion…"

"I hate to say it, but you're only causing more suspicion this way, making people disappear isn't ideal in this type of bind, only causes more panic, especially since people are vanishing all their own"

"It won't be for much longer"

"Why's that?"

"Either way, it'll all come out soon"

They walked away, the door closed with a soft thud, and Hermione apparated away under the table.

* * *

Harry looked over the medical records left by Parkinson. They made very little sense, mostly due to the giant holes left in them. It clearly said that Ron was killed by magical means, but she had been unable to identify exactly how. She hadn't even hypothesized the killing curse as an option. No physical wounds…then the car hadn't actually touched him. But the unnatural way that Ron had been lying on the pavement made Harry think he had been thrown a distance, though the car was no more than two meters away from him. Parkinson said he had nothing on his person but his wallet. But hadn't Ron's wand been found laying somewhere close beside him. Which was fact, what was fiction here? Harry needed to find Parkinson and figure out what this diagnosis meant. What was the actual cause of death? Harry also noted that the area meant for blood work by the potion team was left empty. Had they not even check to see if it was a natural death? '_No, there was nothing natural about it'_ Harry thought. Still, to not even check did not see right, especially since the evidence he found suggested differently.

Harry knew that Ron had not been killed on that spot, but earlier. And Harry didn't think the killing curse was the reason why…Ron's body had swelled slightly after death. Not totally noticeable, especially to a wizard who never watched muggle crime series on the telly, but a natural reaction in many muggle deaths. The killing curse left a body more or less perfectly preserved for many years. It did not affect the body so quickly. This type of swelling that Harry had instantly noted was due to poisoning, or asphyxiation, something in the blood, but he could make no conclusion. Ron was buried, Harry didn't have even a drop of his blood...but perhaps Parkinson did.

* * *

She looked over her shoulder as she entered Malfoy Manor, making sure nobody had followed her. She was shaken, especially after what had just happened, and who she had run into. Hermione had had her suspicions, but even someone as cold as her could hope occasionally that things were not as dire as she found them to be. What in Merlin's pot had Kingsley been doing in that store? And why was he purchasing illegal potions? Hermione couldn't believe it was simply a matter of attempting to catch law breaking culprits. Kingsley and his friend seemed worried that they would no longer have access to these materials, especially with Feller being gone now too.

She needed to know what Halle had been brewing, and whether this potion was what Kingsley was purchasing in mass quantities. Hermione poured the vile mixture into a saucer in Draco's kitchen, after she had scuttled the house elves to other areas of the house. It hissed and bubbled in the saucer, popping gas bubbles. She pointed her wand at it "_cognosco_" nothing occurred. Of course Hermione hadn't expected anything really. That spell would only work for known potions, so she was dealing with something rather dangerous. She waved her wand over it again, the potion didn't change colour. Whatever the full contents of it were, it was impossible to stabilize it.

"_Creatura creo_" A mouse appeared on the table. Hermione watched it patiently as it scattered blindly around the table, like the silly creature it was. Finally exhausted and thirsty the mouse approached the saucer, and then drank from it unwisely.

There was no initial reaction as Hermione surveyed the mouse. For five minutes long it sat on its hind legs, looking around the room, but not movie. It then began to shake violently, and Hermione stepped back from the table, appalled. Suddenly the mouse began to swell. Its teeth began to grown its muscles more pronounced under its hair, and its tail became longer, it also ran madly in circles, as though in its own invisible wheel. Then it stopped moving, and very serenely the mouse turned, and looked at her. Hermione gasped in shock.

It was actually looking at her, seeing her, contemplating her. The inquisitive look on its face was not a trick of the light. The mouse began to approach her, moving to the end of the counter. Hermione grabbed for her wand, ready to defend herself if needed. But the mouse did not attack her; it tipped over, and lay still.

Hermione waited for a minute, wondering if the mouse would get up. When it did not she approached the table cautiously. "_Recuperatio_" the mouse didn't move "_Eneverate_". It was dead. The potion was too strong for its small and weak frame even though it drank so little. Hermione scrutinized the mouse. It seemed to have grown larger, but that wasn't all. The mouse's most prominent features had been emphasized. Its tail, muscles and teeth had become stronger, its fingers longer and dexterous; even the mouse's intelligence seemed to become greater. This potion appeared to have a strengthening charm. The unicorn in it the obvious ingredient for this factor, the erumpent for the swiftness and effectiveness, the other ingredients for the calming of the senses, so as to not over stimulate and kill the drinker. Even though it did not seem to work for the poor mouse that now lay dead on Draco's counter. Hermione felt sorry for whoever else had consumed this awful concoction. This potion was an unstable steroid; erumpent was never a safe ingredient to be consumed by humans, especially in this quantity.

Hermione didn't know what to do with this information now. Halle had been creating illegal steroids for Kingsley, who was doing what with them? Reselling them? Distributing them amongst people in the ministry? For what purpose? And how had more people not died if they were consuming this mixture. And what had been that talk about containment? Had Kingsley taken Draco? But for what reason?

She sat down on a stool and lay her head down in her arms. Was Hermione off the trail? Did any of this have to really do with the bigger issue at hand, Ron's death and her parent's disappearance? No matter how she tried, it seemed as though she had just accidently stumbled upon the ministry's misdoing, but it had nothing to do with the deaths and disappearances occurring. Kingsley purchasing and using illegal potions did not kill Ron, it did not explain the raid at the restaurant, and it had nothing to do with it. Hermione would have to go back, back to where all of this started. Hermione needed to go back and take a look at all of the information taken down about the incident. And she needed to talk to every single person involved.

Hermione felt as though she had been slowing herself down with useless facts and spin around trivia that had nothing to do with the problem. Who had even planted these ideas in her mind? Haleigh had made the suggestions, Kingsley had encouraged them…It felt as though she was following cold trail, fake trails. Real leads had real ends, but Hermione had reached no conclusion. The only thing Hermione knew for sure was that the ministry was involved in this whole mess. It all went back to that building. She was being distracted from seeing the truth, and Hermione wasn't about to let it go on.

Firstly, she was going to pick up Haleigh, and then the two of them would head to the ministry where Harry was sure to be. Then…Hermione would test just how realistic her new theory was.


	18. Racing Like A Pro

**Chapter Eighteen: Racing Like A Pro**

**A/N:** I don't own Harry Potter. Oooo the plot becomes interesting now. (It was confusing before, but hopefully interesting now). Please comment…don't make me whine about it.

* * *

"Haleigh…"

The door was ajar, an exceedingly bad sign in Hermione's line of work. Hermione wasn't sure she wanted to enter the apartment, every fiber in her body was telling her to run away. The whole thing spelled '_mental, evil bitch waiting for you to enter so she can slit your throat, like Jack Ripper incarnate'_…

Hermione kicked the door open; it hit the wall and swung back. Nothing stirred inside. Armed with her wand, she slowly entered. Again, she was putting herself in danger; she would likely be killed before she actually solved this case. Nobody jumped out before her, it seemed that Haleigh had vacated the premises, but what about-

"Oh, Merlin" Hermione whispered as she laid eyes on the scene before her. Sveen was bleeding on the floor, the carpet was a rich purple all around him. Of course, what had she been expecting? Stupid of her to underestimate Haleigh at all, she was a psycho, but that didn't make her stupid. Hermione bent down next to him, "_Eneverate_…" She had expected as much, he was dead and cold and likely dead for a while now. She sighed and stood, surveying the rest of the apartment. "Haleigh?" she called again. This time she was disappointed that there was no reply.

This was a very bad turn of events. If Haleigh was this dangerous, having her out there pretending to be a colleague could get more people killed. Hermione needed to get the ministry and find Harry immediately. Panic was settling in, and her previous rush of inspiration suddenly dissipating. Draco was still missing, as well as her parents; Kinglsey was directly involved in these awful events, and Haleigh was now a murderer running about. Hermione didn't dare to acknowledge the thoughts overtaking her; she knew any situation could _always_ become worse.

* * *

"Come on Parkinson, I'm not a bloody idiot! Tell me what kind of shoddy investigation this was?" Harry yelled waving the tattered autopsy papers in her face. He was beginning to flush, an angry red wave creeping up from his neck to his face.

Pansy Parkinson sat stone faced at her desk, impossibly pale, her hands weaved together on her lap. "I'm sorry Potter, it was the best I could do with what I had to work with," she said, attempting a nonchalant shrug which looked more like a strange jerk.

"Is that the amount of initiative required in this line of work? '_The best you can do_'? The best you can do is what gets people killed! You have to do better Parkinson! Where is Ronald Weasley's blood work? Where are the samples?" Harry fumed, leaning over her desk intimidatingly.

Parkinson looked expectantly at the door, imploring for somebody to come in and interrupt the current tête-à-tête forced upon her. "Don't worry, nobody will interrupt us" Harry assured her "Now tell me, do you have some of Ron's blood left over?"

"I…I don't know" she stammered, red in the face and very alarmed with Harry's proximity.

"STOP LYING PARKINSON!" Harry shouted. He was running out of patience with her, and running out of time in general. The longer it took to get the evidence he needed, the less likely Harry would ever see any of it for himself. "How…can you not _know _Pansy?" he asked evenly attempting gentleness and regaining focus.

Across from him, Parkinson was near tears, and avoiding his gaze absolutely. She shuddered and expelled a teary sigh, "I don't know…I didn't…I didn't-"

"Please Pansy, all in one sentence" Harry said in exasperation.

"I didn't do any blood work…I meant to" she sniffled, Harry handed her a tissue from his pocket. "I was going to, I had taken blood…I'm not bad at my job Potter!" she said defensively "The minister told me it wasn't necessary…and I have to do as he orders"

"I don't give a toss what the minister ordered you to do Parkinson. There better be a 'butt' coming up in the discussion," Harry insisted, leaning closer across the table.

Parkinson's voice fell to a whisper "But-t…I _was_ curious you see" she sniffled.

Harry knew he had her then.

"It was very peculiar that the minister didn't want me to check Weasley's blood for potions abuse or drugging…not even for something mundane as alcohol. So I poured out most of the tubes, but kept a single sample" she paused here apprehensively, and looked at the door again. "I haven't been able to test it though, the lab's being monitored all day long with everything that's been going on. And I don't want to be dismissed for betraying direct orders…"

"Where is the vial?" Harry asked eagerly.

She opened her desk drawer slowly and shuffled some parchment out of the way; she handed him a quill. Harry looked at it interestedly, "The blood is in here, just press the tip down and it will come out," she explained. Harry took the quill and pocketed it.

"Those are some tremendous measures," Harry muttered.

"Yeah, well in case you haven't noticed Potter. Things are becoming bloody extreme around here. The workers at the ministry are not stupid or blind, we known something is happening within these walls. Did you know that Schuler was removed from his office last night by some of Kinglsey's aurors? Nobody's seen him since and I can't fathom what he did. Something very weird is occurring here. And it's frightening"

"Pretty shrewd insight you have"

"And it's got nothing to do with deatheaters does it? I haven't the foggiest what it's really about, but I know it has nothing to do with Voldemort's leftovers." Parkinson mused "I asked Mural, who's assisting Dermsky with his paperwork, and she said nobody but Granger has actually recently checked known deatheater files…_Nobody_ Potter. Nobody in the ministry. For a case as large and confusing as this one…why is there only one person checking these things? And the one person who is most involved with the victims? All bloody inexplicable if you ask me" she suddenly fell quiet. Harry hadn't expected that other people were as aware of the issues occurring within the ministry at large. "And…Draco's missing still…but why? I mean, I know he's on the case…but, if it's Granger they want, wouldn't it have been easier to grab her and go? Haven't there been enough opportunities?"

"Yeah" Harry agreed reluctantly. "I'm going to go run some tests, I'll owl you if I discover anything enlightening"

"Alright then, I'll be in the potions labs in the basement level, trying to figure out that substance on Granger's walls…I just can't pinpoint it" she sighed resignedly "it's been bothering me. Even though the the Minister does not _consider_ this issue important either".

"You mean it's not blood?" Harry gawped, shocked despite himself.

"Oh yes, it's blood. But it's not human blood" she grimaced.

* * *

The ministry was empty. Hermione walked swiftly through the gallery and towards the lifts. She had only encountered a few people on her way, and none of which cared about her business at all. She waited patiently for a lift, her fingers trembling and her eyes darting around. She was petrified. Of what exactly she wasn't sure, but Hermione was certain she didn't want to run into Kinglsey at this moment. To her left, a lift stopped and the bell chimed. Pansy Parkinson walked off, her face like a wet weekend. Staring straight at the ground Parkinson turned the corner, apparently heading down the stairs to the lower levels. Hermione peeled her eyes away from the dower Parkinson and stepped on the lift. Harry was likely on the seventh floor, where his office was.

She tried to categorize her day, to simplify it, make it work like clockwork. But numbers and specific moments kept escaping her…it had been almost a full two days since Draco had disappeared. Nineteen hours since she had discovered the potion-brewing scheme, only four hours since she had found the steroid concoction in the empty store, and an hour since she discovered Haleigh had absconded. All of these were abnormally vague for Hermione, she felt as though time was slipping through her hands like sand. She was losing time quickly. And she was barely on her feet, having slept less than four hours in the last two days, and secondly she was starving. Hopefully there was food left over in the cafeteria upstairs.

For the first occasion in a long while, Hermione had not been meticulously measuring time in her hurry to resolve the problems facing her. It was in a sense, liberating, to live so quickly and freely. But otherwise extremely ill timed. The lift dinged and lurched to a stop, signifying that she should depart. Hermione walked off the lift and surveyed the stretch of hallway before her. All the doors were shut, and nobody was loitering in the hall. Had everyone left so early today? It seemed very peculiar to Hermione that the ministry was so empty on a normal workday. She walked all the way to the end of the hall to the cafeteria; nobody was sitting down to a tea or lunch there either. Hermione grabbed one of the sandwiches wrapped in clingfilm sitting on the tray for herself. No dishes in the sink, the tea pot dry and cold…it was unsettling to see the ministry so empty.

Leaning against the counter, and enjoying her first meal in what seemed like forever, Hermione contemplated her next move. It was clear to her she needed to find Harry. But, without arousing suspicion for her being at the ministry. So, no patronus, no owl…no flying paper airplane. She needed to deduct where he could be. If she couldn't, Hermione knew the next best thing was to go down to the potion labs and find Parkinson, ask her what she knew about strength enhancing potions.

Harry might have been wherever Kingsley was. In such a case, Hermione would have to give up on Harry for the time being. She didn't know whether she should send anybody to pick up Sveen's body at Haleigh's apartment, or if it was irrelevant and time consuming at this point. Hermione walked out of the canteen and peeked down the hall again. Still empty. She walked over to Harry's office and opened the door. It was full of Harry's typical mess. Takeout containers, shredded parchments, and broken quills littered his surfaces and floor. Hermione couldn't find anything on his desk particularly enlightening, or anything that would suggest where he had-

She picked up Ron's autopsy report.

Parkinson.

Hermione dropped the parchment and briskly turned running out of office to the lifts. Parkinson had done the blood work for the autopsy. If Ron had any illegal substances in his blood, she would know. Hermione slammed her hand on the down button agitatedly. And continuously kept hitting it, even though she knew the lift would no go any quicker. "Come on" she whined. Finally it arrived, Hermione jumped in, closed the gate and pressed M for Main. "Ough" she exhaled as the lift threw her back, forgetting in her excitement to grab onto anything.

Her blood was pumping so loudly Hermione could hear it in her ears, as loud as the crashing ocean. Her palms wet and cold, and lips dry, Hermione couldn't believe how stupid she was. And Hermione was certain she had already read that same autopsy report and just looked over the fact that Parkinson had any involvement, it had not occurred to her back then that it wasn't a non-violent death. It was becoming crystal clear to her that Ron had been taking magical steroids. Which were possibly, though probably, supplied by the ministry. Her memory flew past in a quick slideshow calculating an approximate point at which Ron had begun taking the potions, and how he had changed. Either the steroids had affected his health critically and this death was inevitable, or…he had overdosed…or…he had taken a bad batch. That mouse…

The lift stopped with a lurch. Hermione threw open the gate and stumbled outside.

"Hermione!"

"Harry!" she gasped spotting him exit a lift to her right. He looked flushed and flustered, but immensely pleased to see her.

"Hermione! You won't believe what I found in Ron's blood-"

"Shhh…HARRY!" Hermione said running at him and silencing him with her hand. "I know what you found, but here is not the place to discuss this…I was on my way to see Parkinson downstairs" Hermione said softly, removing her hand. Harry looked at her quizzically.

"For what?"

"I was going to ask her if she had any of Ron's blood, but seeing as you've already confirmed my suspicions, it's not necessary"

"We should probably go see her all the same" Harry said linking elbows with Hermione and steering her down to the lower levels.

"Why?"

"She said the blood on the walls of your home isn't human blood. I reckon there's a chance your parents are still alive" Harry said looking over his shoulder.

"I reckon with everything I've discovered thus far, only one person out of all the suspected are truly dead" Hermione muttered quietly.


	19. Twisted

**Chapter 19: Twisted**

**A/N:** I don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

"Ron's dead" Harry said.

"Sure" Hermione agreed, her eyes flickering from side to side, waiting for somebody to leap from in-between the tall columns and attack them.

The continued down the passage, only the sound of their breathing and the clicking of their shoes audible. The long, tall stone chamber was vacant, just as the rest of the ministry, and had a strong abandoned feel to it. '_Almost as though people had run out in a panic' _Hermione mused as she stepped on a dropped quill.

Harry stopped and knocked on room 'C', he opened the door and pushed his head through the crack cautiously. Parkinson was sitting in the dark, bent over a sample, and scraping it with her wand. "Potter?" she said disappointedly, squinting at him.

Hermione pushed past Harry and into the room apprehensively.

"Granger?" Parkinson said, now with more curiosity.

"So, let's have it Pansy, what is it you know" Hermione asked sitting down on the stool next to hers and looking over the spread of foreign tools and materials all over the table. Hermione was practically sitting on her hands just to remain calm and focused. If she fell pray to her negative thoughts now, she would lose.

"It's synthetic" Parkinson said with a perplexed frown, "At least, it's got to be. That or it's some unknown magical creatures blood. But the way it's formed…the cell shape…" she rubbed her eyes tiredly, "whatever it is, it probably wouldn't be able to live on earth, since the blood doesn't react normally when I tested it. So it's likely synthetic"

"Synthetic blood? What's the use in that?" Harry asked, leaning across from the other side of the table.

"Use? None really" Parkinson admitted, "Synthetic blood, or organs, or bodies are generally useless, they don't function at all, they're in a constant state of expiry" she paused for dramatic effect and looked from Harry to Hermione"_If_…you could create a working synthetic organ, then there's _no_ limit to what you could do. One could test drugs and potions, healers may be able to save more patients, you could replicate human beings…but it's all despairingly hypothetical"

"But this is synthetic" Harry asked again.

"Yes"

"Have you ever attempted to make synthetic blood?" Hermione asked Parkinson. The idea of replicating blood and bodies was volatile, and gruesome. Just like dark magic.

"Sure, we had to make batches of it when we first began training. It's a pretty difficult process, and a good test of ones potions finesse due to the variety of knowledge one requires to make a closely accurate sample"

"Have you ever wondered what it was used for? Or what was intended to do with it. You don't suppose they had all of the trainees making enormous quantities of synthetic blood to have it tossed away"

"No…" Parkinson admitted.

"All that synthetic blood, for what?" Harry sighed, egging her on.

"Well, my seniors probably thought it could be used to test potion results, but it's impossible to replicate human blood, so any results they retained would have been seriously skewed" she explained. "Even if you could margin its resemblance to only a difference of a one trillionth percent, the possibility of it functioning is laughably unlikely"

"And your seniors know this? That this synthetic blood doesn't function the same as human blood?" Hermione questioned.

"Well, they should, if they've ever attempted to run a trial potion on both the synthetic and human blood. I mean, it's not the rule that synthetic material won't have the same results as the natural, it could be a fluke; bar continuously getting a positive result, which would be a major breakthrough if they did. Newspapers, books, radio, and every witch and wizard would be talking about it. So, I would think, that is…does it matter if they didn't know?" Parkinson tapered off, suddenly looking alarmed herself.

Hermione looked at Harry, "What if we told you Pansy, that the ministry is dealing potentially lethal steroid potions to witches and wizards?"

"AH!" she cried, standing up and knocking her stool onto the ground. "I found it!" she said pushing aside papers and grabbing a small plane of glass, smeared with blood. "It's the most bizarre thing that's in Weasley's blood. I can't even figure out what it is…"

* * *

"Harry, I will meet you in Diagon Alley in front of the Junk Shop at nine…two hours" Hermione said looking at her watch, unable to believe how much time had passed.

"Where are you going?" he asked nervously. It was obvious to Hermione that Harry didn't want to split up now, but Hermione had errands to run, and to prepare herself for what came next.

"I'm heading back to Draco's. I'm going to get Parkinson that leftover bit of potion, so that she can record exactly how it reacts to the synthetic blood, as well as its contents. We need to know what the potion was intended to do exactly, and what effects we might be dealing with. And then I'll meet you there, at nine" Hermione explained pulling on her cloak as they exited the washrooms and walked out onto the empty street.

The dimly lit street was empty but for a cat rummaging through a trash can on the other side. The sky was clouded and purple, foreboding, but appropriate considering their situation.

"And what then?"

Hermione frowned, "I guess we'll see"

She began to walk briskly toward Malfoy's Manor; the wind was picking up and blowing in dark clouds from the east. Hermione needed Parkinson to figure out what exactly the ministry thought their potion would do, and why it had the effects it did. She knew how Ron died, but not exactly why. His death had to be connected to the potions he was being fed, but what had they done to him, and only after two years… It still didn't seem right to her. It was just as peculiar as the idea of the ministry being in contact with unregistered potion brewers, and those of the dangerous variety. Didn't the ministry have their own people, more talented witches and wizards who could brew the same potions, why did they have to go look elsewhere? It would have made more sense to have the whole operation centered at the ministry, less trails to be picked up. There was a lot of what Kingsley was doing that didn't make sense. Hermione wasn't even sure if she could incriminate him. She knew what he was doing was illegal and wrong, but she just couldn't see why he would. What could possibly have been his motives? She pushed open the door and closed it gently behind her.

"Miss a letter, a letter for you," one of the house elves cried shrilly running towards her, clearly panicked, "the caller wouldn't come in, no mam, but we took his letter for you. Ooh the sir wouldn't come in, what a shame, a shame" the elf cried wringing her robes.

"Calm down and thank you" Hermione muttered taking the letter. She turned it over in her hands, and felt through the envelope. It seemed like a normal letter, nothing dangerous here. _He_ wouldn't come in though…

"Miss, there's a call for you" said the elf suddenly, her ears twitching like antenna's and eyes widening, she tugged on Hermione's robe. Hermione followed the elf into the sitting room, feeling a little bit spaced and aloof, unable to comprehend the stimulation occurring from all sides.

"Where's the call coming from?" she asked looking at the bright green fireplace.

"Harry Potter's house Miss"

Hermione walked over the fireplace; grabbing a handful of green sand in the jar on the hearth she threw it at the flames. She knelt down close.

Harry's head appeared, bobbing before her. He looked absolutely mad, and though Hermione couldn't see his body, she was sure he was fidgeting. "What's wrong?" she grimaced; they had barely parted twenty minutes ago.

"Hermione…do you have any of Draco or Haliegh's blood?"

"Yes, sure, let me just grab it" she began, but seeing the hopeful look on his face, Hermione stopped the farce. "No, what, why?" she asked incredulously.

"I've got a theory," he whispered.

"It could be bunnies?"

"No, Hermione, listen" he said in exasperation"Ron, Draco, You…Me…what do we have in common?"

Hermione stiffened; they had a lot in common, though Hermione wasn't all together sure what Harry was getting at. "Why…"

"Think" he insisted, "remember the threats at your home. If it's not deatheaters…why would they want us…"

"Well, we're all the same age, a pretty prime age in our lives. Well known, very successful in our individual fields, were closely tied with Voldemort, people generally respect our opinions, especially yours…there's quiet a lot"

"Yes, there is…when you send Parkinson that steroid potion, send her some of your blood as well" Harry said shortly, his head turning to look behind him.

"You don't think-"

"I do" Harry said, and his face disappeared from the flames.

Hermione scurried off the floor and ran into the kitchen. She grabbed the flask of potion and stoppered it; she noted that the rat had been removed, likely by the elves. Hermione grabbed another empty flask from the counter, and gently she cut her arm with her wand, siphoning the drops of blood into the flask. Hermione looked at her blood, it was just blood to her, and it didn't look any different. But what did she know? Was she drugged right now? How could she know?

She closed up the cut, grabbed the two flasks and headed to the veranda, overlooking the garden. Hermione grabbed an empty envelope from the cupboard on her way and placed the two glass containers inside of it. She knew it was better to send it without a note, should it arrive in the wrong hands.

"Here birdie" Hermione called as she stepped outside. She whistled as loudly as she could over the wind. From the trees one of the large, sleek, and black Malfoy owls flew towards her. "Take this to Pansy Parkinson, she's in the Ministry, basement level…don't let it get into anybody else's hands" she said tying the envelope to the owl's leg. With a solemn hoot the owl spread it's wings and flew up. Hermione watched it fly away, dread settling in her stomach. She didn't have very high hopes of the owl reaching its destination.

The weather was taking a serious turn for the worse, if Hermione and Harry found themselves running around outside tonight, it could be very unpleasant.

Hermione had an hour before she needed to meet Harry. She shut the door tightly behind her and headed upstairs. She smelled funny, and she knew it. Hermione needed a shower and a change of clothing, and perhaps it would help clear her mind.

Sitting in the large tub of sweltering hot water her mind continued to reel. All the side effects of that potion. She had tried to keep the thoughts at bay today, but they were breaking through to the surface.

Ron had been acting very strangely the past year and some. Breaking it off with her after so many years…had that been the effects of the potions? Hermione froze, her heart faltering. What if Ron would have stayed, what if they had been married, had a life, and children, if it hadn't been for the potions he took? Anger began to seethe under her skin; they had done it to Ron. It wasn't her fault, it was the ministry's. They had taken him from her.

And she could clearly trace the path of his angry and erratic behavior. He had gotten taller, his muscles has grown. Hermione wasn't sure if she'd imagined it since she saw so little of him towards the end. But he had changed, it _hadn't_ been her fault. _Or his._

Knowing this, it made her infinitely sadder. Knowing that it hadn't been either of their faults where did that leave her now? Did she mourn even more for his death; was she guilty of attempting to move on? And what about Draco?

She never said anything to him. She used him for her own comfort, pushed as much of her hurting onto him as she could. But she never explained to him how she felt, and she didn't know if the chance would ever arise again. Even now, knowing why her life had gone the course it did, it didn't change how she felt about Ron or Draco. Hermione knew that even if in a parallel universe she and Ron had amicably split, it would have been the right thing. The only reason it hurt so much was because she never got the opportunity to heal before Ron died. It made their relationship seem unfinished and tainted. Though she had lost Ron as a lover, she had also lost him as a friend, which killed her. She couldn't lose Draco too. He had been the only good thing in her life recently, with everything else occurring; he had been the dependable rock. And more than that, Hermione liked him. Very, really, deeply, liked him. Just the jealousy she had felt when Haleigh had moved in on him was enough to prove her feelings.

* * *

"Wait Miss!" cried the same elf from before as Hermione pulled her cloak on. "Your letter"

Right, she had dropped it in her hurry to answer Harry. Hermione took the letter from the elf; she tore the envelope open and pulled out the letter.

_We have them, alive. _

_if you want them back _

_I will be in front of the Sweets Shop_

_on Diagon Alley_

_You have until nine tonight._

'_Of course you have them alive'_, Hermione thought callously. What a bloody stupid owl to send, was Kingsley so dim as to think she'd fall for it. This was obviously a red herring. Something to send Hermione running right into Kingsley's arms and to distract her from solving the case. The whole plot was a red herring. That was the only reason Kingsley had taken her parents, in order to distract her from solving Ron's death. The same reason that Draco and Haleigh were likely missing too, as well as all of the false information she had been given, was to lead her off the obvious trail, that it all began and ended with Ron. And if Hermione was to show up there it would give Kingsley the perfect opportunity to nab her without any witnesses, then perhaps she would be declared dead the next day. Well, Hermione wasn't running to Sugarplums for this trash.

"Harry!" she gasped dropping the letter.

* * *

Draco flinched in his chair, almost falling backwards. From above there had been a loud clang of metal against something else. Someone was now excitedly yelling above. Whatever was cause for their excitement wasn't going to be in his or Haleigh's favor.

Another bang from above. Had they left? It was quiet now. "Haleigh?" he whispered hoarsely, his throat was painfully dry. She didn't stir. He hoped she was alive. Ever since he'd been brought here, they hadn't been fed or watered, and Draco was beginning to seriously weaken. He cleared his throat and tried again "Haleigh?" Still no reply, was she well?.

"HALEIGH" he yelled.

From above, something screeched.

Draco paled.

Somebody began walking.

* * *

Hermione apparated next to Gringott's, she slowly slid behind a large white pillar, removing herself from sight. All of the stores were closed at this time and so nobody was around. Hermione could not see from this far away if Harry had arrived, it was five to nine.

She slinked forward running across the street and hiding behind Ollivander's large street sign. From here she had the perfect view of both the Junk Shop ands the pastries store. Hermione kept glancing behind her, worried that someone might appear from the back. But nothing around her stirred. "Come on Harry" she whispered.

What if he had come under his invisibility cloak? At least in this case Hermione could be certain he wouldn't get caught, but what about her? She had walked right into the trap, and without any plan. There was bound to be more than one of Kinglsey's cronies waiting for her to walk out into the open. Hermione stepped out from behind the sign, she was an idiot, and her curiosity was going to kill her. She walked forward slowly, trying to not look as nervous as she felt. One, two…

Her body tingled. The sensation of a cracked egg on her head made her shiver. The feeling trickled down her face to the tips of her fingers. Something was very wrong. There was nobody here. Nobody at all.

Hermione turned on the spot, "Harry!" she called.

"Harry!"

"'Mione…"

Hermione spun around, looking for the source. "Harry?" she asked softly, gripping her wand tightly.

"_Protego_" Hermione gasped, pointing her wand at the oncoming spell. The bright purple light shot back into the darkness between two stores. Someone fell with a loud groan.

"_Stupefy_" Hermione yelled; blasting the spell three separate times into the alleyway to make sure whoever was down stayed there.

She turned round as the clicking of shoes rushed past her. Hermione stepped to her right, narrowly missing a bright green killing curse. Who were these people? Was it possible that Kingsley wanted her dead? That seemed extreme…he had killed Ron, however indirectly, but would he attempt to have her killed here? Hermione ran down the street dodging multiple curses, and throwing herself behind the peanut vendor's cart.

"_Bombarda, bombarda, bombarda_" Hermione said shooting spells at the dark shadow running across the lane. But none hit their mark; instead they hit the surrounding buildings, causing a shower of debris to rain down.

She was too far from Gringott's apparition point; Hermione was caught. How was she going to get herself out of this one?

A particularly strong spell hit the cart, causing it to catch fire, and forcing Hermione to abandon her safe zone. "Bloody hell" she gasped jumping back from the cart. "_Periculum_" she said, sending red fireworks high into the night sky, and hoping that somebody would see them, she could use help. But the idea of a witch or wizard noticing her cry for help was a foolish one. Another curse shot at her, Hermione dodged, but not well enough. The curse caught her arm, slicing a thick portion of flesh. "Damn" she whispered, clutching her injured wand arm. Hermione could not see the wound in the dark, but she could feel the blood running hot down to her fingers, it was deep.

Someone moved to her right, "_Crucio_!" Hermione cried pointing her wand at the running person. It missed and blasted a store sign off its hinges and into a million little pieces.

Hermione began to run as quickly as she could towards Gringotts, knowing she was leaving herself open for attack, but realizing it was her only chance for escape. She was at a serious disadvantage being alone and without her wand arm.

She dogged another killing curse, and stumbled on the curb, sprawling herself down on the ground. Pain shot through her right arm. Hermione stumbled back up and countered "_Flippendo_" sending one of the cloaked figures flying backwards through the front display of a store.

"Hermione!"

"Harry!" Hermione cried to the dark. Where was he? "Harry!"

There were more flashes of light as curses whizzed past her. "_Expelliarmus_" Harry yelled; a bright flash of red coming from in front of her.

"Harry!" she gasped running blindly towards its source.

As she laid eyes on him, he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her towards another vending cart. "Harry" she whispered.

"These aren't people from the ministry" he said quietly, peering from behind the cart for the attackers.

Hermione frowned at him "How do you- Harry you're bleeding!" she hissed, noticing the dark matter creeping from under his hair.

"You as well" he replied looking at his hand, smeared with her blood "Can you heal it?"

"Not in this light" she admitted feeling the cut on her right arm begin to burn.

More flashes of light were exchanged, "what are they aiming at?" Harry wondered, "Maybe they think they've lost us"

"How do you know they're not from the ministry?" Hermione asked softly.

"I overheard them before they noticed me. They were talking about Kingsley, and how to get rid of him…I don't understand myself who these people are, but they're in this just as deep as the rest of us" He explained, "That and the fact they aren't shy to kill us, they're _aiming_ to kill Hermione"

Hermione slowly glanced from behind the cart, another bang and flash of green light flew down the lane, someone screamed. "Should we make our break for it?" she suggested.

"May not be such a bad idea" Harry agreed, "how far?"

"At least a fifty meters" Hermione shook her head.

"I'll go first, that way if they aim at me you can get away"

"Don't be a bloody idiot Harry" she whispered heatedly.

"You're the bloody idiot. You can't even properly aim with that arm, I'll do better defending us than you will" he replied harshly.

Harry darted from behind the cart, immediately someone fired at him, the curse luckily missed and hit the ground, bouncing off and hitting the streetlight, throwing Harry into darkness. Hermione followed after him as quickly as she could. There was a ten meter stretch of virtual darkness, but she could see Harry in front of her. He fired a curse behind him, narrowly missing Hermione.

"Bollocks!" Hermione gasped as her wand slipped from her slick fingers. She staggered forward onto the ground, feeling for it. "Got it" she muttered beginning to stand, when above her head a curse whizzed. She looked up to see it hit Harry hard in the back. He fell forward. "Harry" she muttered running over to him and falling to her knees. She began to turn him over when she noticed how wet his robes were, wet with blood. "Harry" she whispered, pushing him onto his back. The blood was running from the front of his chest too. What was this…Hermione patted his face, "Harry, come on, now's not the time" He didn't stir.

"_Expelliarmus_!" she said breathlessly, disarming the man running towards her. His wand fell beside her, and he turned and ran the other way. "_Eneverate_"

"Ohh" Harry gasped, his hands immediately flying to his chest, "Ughh"

"Don't touch!" Hermione sobbed, pushing his hands back to his sides. She needed to heal this now, stop the bleeding. "Don't touch" she repeated softly. "_Diffindo_" she muttered, cutting his robes. Hermione looked anxiously behind her, nobody was coming at them.

"_Vulnera Sanentur_" she whispered pointing at the deep hole in his chest. The skin began to connect, and the wound closed. Then split open again, causing a fresh flow of blood to seep. "No" she gasped tearfully, "No, why won't it close?" Again and again she attempted to close the wound, but it wouldn't close completely. Hermione began to sob against her better sense, she couldn't stop this hopeless feeling. If she couldn't heal Harry…

"Time to go"

Hermione froze; her hands on Harry's bloody chest, her mouth dry.

"Draco?" she whispered turning around.

"Bloody Merlin, what happened to Potter" he muttered crouching next to her. Hermione stared at him in disbelief, his robes were soiled, and his face cut from his cheek to chin.

"Get yourself together Hermione, we've got to go now, before more of them show up, and before Potter takes the last train home" He muttered, picking Harry up. Draco began to walk quickly towards Gringotts, Hermione following him quickly. Her head was spinning, all the blood…everywhere…

"Take my hand"

* * *

Hermione stumbled half aware into Malfoy Manor before collapsing on the foyer floor next to Harry. "Harry" she whispered running her hand over his face. Hermione recoiled realizing how filthy and bloody her own hands were, seeing she had smeared this all over Harry's face. He was so pale…

"Move"

Hermione moved aside. She didn't even feel aware of her own body, and her head was spinning, she couldn't get enough air.

Malfoy poured something over Harry's chest. It smelled a little like dittany to Hermione, but she knew that wouldn't be strong enough to close the wound. She could hear his skin sizzle, it was burning. Draco was burning the skin closed. "Poppy, get him upstairs" Draco order one of the elves standing and watching the scene.

"Yes Master!" yelped the elf, levitating Harry and moving him upstairs "And feed him pepper-up and blood replenishing potion! If he survives tonight, he'll be fine" Draco sighed in relief.

Hermione barely heard him; she was staring at her bloody hands, trembling in her lap.

"Hermione?" he whispered placing his hand on hers.

She couldn't even respond. Was Harry going to live? Who were those wizards? What had they wanted…did they really have her parents? If so, Hermione couldn't hope they were alive any longer. She knew that time was out. She knew what the next step was…

"Why are you here?" she asked suddenly, in confusion.

"Pansy broke me out of prison" Draco grimaced.

"Pansy?" Hermione repeated uncertainly.

"I was near you the whole time. They had me and Haleigh under the potion labs" he explained.

"Haleigh?" Hermione frowned… "She killed Sveen…I…I saw-"

"That's not her"

"Who…"

"I have an idea" he muttered.


	20. In Plain Sight

**Chapter Twenty: In Plain Sight**

**A/N:** I do not own Harry Potter.

* * *

"Not possible" Hermione said shaking her head. She kept staring at her hands; even though they were now clean she could still smell and feel the blood, she could taste it in her mouth. Harry was fast asleep upstairs, slipping past death by a hair for the hundredth time in his short mostly miserable life. And every time he did, Hermione felt her own life shorten significantly; it was not easy to be Harry's friend.

"And why not?"

"Draco! I saw him, Harry and I saw him multiple times…how could he be Haleigh?" she said in exasperation, waving her arms animatedly. A shooting pain ran through her arm, still not completely healed herself.

"When was the last time you saw Kingsley with your own two eyes? More than twenty-four hours? Since I've been missing?" he asked calculatedly, knowing he was right. Hermione frowned at him. Everything felt muddy around her. As soon as she though something was certain to be, all the pieces crashed down around her. How far away was the end? Moreover, what was going to be the end for her?

"I-I…Why would he kill his own people? And why would he impersonate Haleigh" Hermione asked in mystification, rubbing her arm.

"Hermione, think. He set Haleigh to work with us…then impersonated her to know how far along we were. He needed to know when it was time to either kill us, or dose us. Unfortunately his plan misfired due to your mistrust of Haleigh. But it was a perfect way to keep tabs on us while it lasted"

"I still don't understand. Those people there tonight…and why is Kingsley _still_ impersonating her?"

"He's hiding" Draco explained running a hand over his face thoughtfully.

"From whom? Certainly not from us. Not much we can do right now"

"It gives more credence to my theory about those wizards we ran into earlier…"

Hermione raised her brows, "Well, you might as well share"

Draco gazed at her curiously, clearly worried Hermione would not agree with his thoughts.

"What if you had a secret you had to keep? What if keeping that secret was the only way to maintain order and peace in the world, what if nothing else was more important than keeping that secret? How would you keep that secret if you had to?"

"Don't tell anybody the secret"

He shook his head, "No Hermione, what if you had to keep the secret that somebody else knew. How could you make sure they never revealed that secret?"

"Remove the secret keeper. Nobody knows the secret…then nobody can-"

"Exactly"

"Those wizards tonight, who were they really? How does this scheme affect them? It must be life or death for them if it's come to this, if they are prepared to attack the ministry to keep the silence. They must be beyond the ministry's touch. It makes me think they were relying on Kingsley, and now he's disappointed them. Furthermore, if they are trying to remove us then what about Kingsley? As much as we know, Kingsley certainly knows more"

"His time is coming. He's bitten off more than he can chew, and now he's going to choke on it" Draco grimaced. He looked to the fireplace, as though expecting somebody to call. His face fell and his mouth opened as though he was going to ask a question.

"Draco, what were you doing at Diagon Alley tonight?" Hermione queried suddenly. Draco turned to her in surprise. Her eyes narrowed deviously.

"What were you doing?" he asked in return, his eyebrow rising, and a smile threatening to crack over his face.

"I was going to go back to the place where I'd found the potion. Check and see if there was anything else…no I wasn't" Hermione stuttered, suddenly confused. "I was…I think I was going to…"

"Flabbergasted?" he asked with a smirk.

"A little…what dragged me there then? It's like there's this thing in the corner of my mind that seems so obvious, but I can't remember what it is. I was going to show Harry something I thought was important. It seemed so important only a few hours ago"

"I _know_. I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye too. That night, outside of the restaurant. Right, you think you saw it too." Draco smiled, looking at her warily. Hermione began to feel funny, a cold sweat running down her back. She saw it…what was it? It was nothing, just a sliver, out of the corner of her eye, even possibly a trick of the shadows. However, Draco had seen it too. Something very large was hidden, right in the middle of Diagon Alley.

"Plan?"

"We go in…and try to not get killed?"

"We can't even get in. We'd have to hide for who knows how long waiting for the first person to come along, and even then…it's not a guarantee we would be able to catch on to them. I think we should just focus on what we know. Maybe see Pansy again", Hermione suggested lamely.

"But it's there Hermione. Now that you know, you cannot get it out of your head. There is something there" Draco insisted heatedly, pacing the kitchen floor.

"Yes" Hermione hissed placing the kettle on the hop, "But what? We do not even know what it is. What if it's _nothing_?"

"If it were _nothing_ we wouldn't have noticed it. And who hides _nothing_ in the middle of the busiest street in England?" he retorted.

"I'm just trying to say, that we don't have a means of even finding out what it is, let alone getting in. So, let's see if Pansy has any word on what this potion is" she reiterated "We need to be as well informed as possibly before making any more stupid moves. I have almost been killed a dozen times since this senseless association unraveled. I just want to live through this".

"Fine" Draco relented sitting down on the stool, but the impatience was still apparent on his face.

"I'm wondering if that's the secret…the real secret," Hermione added measuring out some loose tea.

Draco looked up at her in surprise with unease "You mean, if that's where they keep the secrets?"

"Right"

"Maybe…"

"Do you feel peculiar?" Hermione asked leaning across the counter towards him.

"Only when you get this close", he grinned awkwardly.

"No really" Hermione whispered earnestly, her eyes widening.

The grin slipped off his face to be replaced with furrowed brows, "Innit though?" he exhaled.

"I don't like this a single bit"

"I think there will be less to like in a few hours"

* * *

"Still feel it?" Hermione asked as they met in the apparition hall in the ministry.

"Even worse so" Draco swallowed looking around "But I'm sure just walking in here like this isn't helping my nerves any"

The ministry was as empty as Hermione had anticipated. "How do you persuade hundreds of employees to stay home? Why do you vacate the ministry?" she asked nobody in particular. And nobody answered her.

They walked along the marble hallways, echoing and stony, long tunnels that had a long time ago seemed like an infinite maze.

"Maybe they were told the ministry was hazardous, or…an epidemic?" Draco shrugged, his eyes keenly searching every corner, and his wand out.

"Sure, then _why_?" Hermione scowled, "Perhaps there really is something dangerous here. Kingsley wouldn't empty the ministry on a notion, that would cause panic in and of itself"

"So why didn't you notice this yesterday?" Draco asked inquisitively "You were here yesterday too, and it didn't strike you bizarre that there was nobody to run into. Granted it was a Friday afternoon, and it is a Saturday today. But I've never seen the ministry completely empty any day, not even on Sunday".

"I did notice…I just disremembered" Hermione said slowly, gritting her teeth.

"Just like you forgot the giant thing concealed in Diagon Alley?"

"Exactly like that" Hermione confessed.

"And here we are, still walking down the to basement, even though we are fully aware of how peculiar and dangerous the situation is" Draco quipped.

"It's the drugs. That strange feeling, the forgetfulness…the irrationality. It's the drugs Draco…I watched this happen to Ron, and now it's happening to us" Hermione murmured in awe.

"Don't be absurd" Draco scoffed, "We're not _on_ anything"

"How you do know? You took your coffee every morning from the same pot that both Harry and I and many others did…it is a potion. It's oral, you needn't be injected"

"How much have we had then?"

"That's what Pansy will tell us. If Pansy is still alive," Hermione replied worriedly.

"You feel it too? The paranoia? You think that's the potion, or just us?" he muttered bitterly.

"Maybe a combination"

Hermione's shoes clicked as the walked the stairs down to the first basement where she and Harry had left Pansy yesterday. Hermione wondered if Pansy had even received the vials of blood sent last night, or if the owl had been intercepted along the way. Draco walked solemnly next to her, his wand raised in front of them, ready for any sudden attack. However, Hermione was not expecting any ambush. If nobody had attempted to kill them up until now in the ministry, it was not in the plan. There would likely be too many questions if they were found dead here.

"Pansy?" Hermione whispered pushing open the door to the potions lab.

"She's not there, is she?" Draco asked from behind her.

"No" Hermione said.

She stepped into the room "Perhaps she went home"

"She didn't and you know it" Draco grunted looking around the empty lab "This means they've taken whatever she was working on as well"

"Maybe…but maybe not. Pansy was a smart girl, she would have found a way to leave something for us" Hermione proposed curiously looking around the empty lab. The charmed windows were painting the scene of a lovely sunny day outside, while Hermione knew it was raining right now. Nothing appeared to be ransacked or ruined, it just looked clean.

"Why are you so sure. It's just as possible she did not such thing"

"I think she knew the gravity of the situation, I think…she was much cleverer than they gave her credit for" Hermione said dropping to her knees and looking under the desks.

Draco swiveled around the room, still expecting an attack.

Hermione began to crawl under the large slab desk, there had to be something left. Pansy wouldn't have had everything just out on the counter to be found or taken, she would have had doubles, batches, back-ups…"mine" Hermione laughed ripping the key off the underside of the desk.

"What now?"

"A key" she grinned, standing up and brushing off her knees.

"A key? I am sure they could have just charmed open, or blasted open any of these cupboards. They'd hardly need a key", Draco said discouragingly.

"It's not a cupboard key…" Hermione said holding up the flimsy silver key. "It's one of those generic little keys you get when you purchase a jewelry box from the drug store"

"Alright, so she was a genius" Draco muttered.

* * *

"You can do the honors", Hermione said as she and Draco stood in front of Pansy's office.

"And you think it's here?" he asked skeptically glancing up and down the empty hallway.

"Of course it is!" she sighed in frustration. "Why on earth would she leave us the key if we wouldn't be able to find the box. You are preposterous sometimes"

"Me me blab la" he muttered opening the door and stepping in. Hermione quickly followed him in and shut the door tight behind them "What now?"

"Look for it" Hermione suggested sarcastically walking over to Pansy's desk. Her heart was racing, she was almost certain of Pansy's findings, but she did not want to let herself be carried away before the truth was revealed. The drawers were empty; Pansy's desk was mostly disused. Nothing like Hermione's workstation, which although clean was stacked high with documents and other work.

"This it?" Draco asked from behind her. He had picked up a small glass box from the shelving unit on the wall.

"Yes" Hermione exhaled with impatience.

He set it down on the desk. Hermione inserted the key with trembling hands, and turned. It clicked satisfyingly, and she lifted the lid. She gently removed the jewelry and pictures on the top, and felt her fingers brush against glass. Hermione pulled out a vial of blood. A piece of paper folded around it and affixed with an elastic band. She pulled off the paper and unfolded it.

_ Granger, _

_ This is simply a precautionary measure. I have no way of knowing whether I will be there to deliver this message to you. Simply being in your company has put me in risk, so I am making sure my efforts do not go to waste. If you are reading this, it is obvious is it not?_

_ The potion is a steroid as you told me you suspected. The steroid is not meant to create any capabilities, but rather to maximize on those already asserted. This is why the rat's teeth grew when you fed it the substance. In Weasley's case, the potion enlarged his muscles and sharpened his reflexes; unfortunately it also strengthened his worse traits such as his irritability, flightiness, and chronic heart problems._

_I checked yours and Potter's blood as well, and the isolated substance in your blood is the same as was in Weasley's. Even worse, it is nearly at the same amount. If I had not see you with my own eyes, I would think you were dead from an overdose. Potter is not much better off. I would recommend you to go to a hospital, but I am not certain they could even help. It would take weeks to sift the substance out, and I know time is short. I am worried about what the harmful side effects of this potion are for you. I do not know you neurotic tendencies, but I am supposing they have been strong lately. You would know._

_This is important Granger, so read carefully. There is an accelerant in the potion that reacts with your blood. The quicker you move, the more your heart beats, the faster your blow flows, the quicker the potion in you reacts. This could be why Weasley died so suddenly. A drug, which would have taken a slower time to react in a normal person, took a fraction of that time to reach full circle in an active person whose heart rate was continually raised. Do not force the potion to accelerate, remain as calm and still as you can. _

_Secondly, I am hypothesizing very much here, but I would say the potion is a tainted sample, but I cannot be sure since I have no sample of the proper thing available. Nevertheless, it seems strange that the ministry would use this if they knew it caused death, no matter how backhanded they tend to be. In the vial I have a clear diluted sample of your blood with the potion reacting to the cells. Any potion master would be able to see the problem in that sample. It may come in handy when you need to prove your point, so hold on to it. _

_Good luck to you, Potter, and Draco. If whoever they are do not come to get me, I have not much longer either way, my blood is affected as well. _

_Sincerely, _

_Pansy P._

Hermione dropped the letter onto the table. "I'm dying", she said in horror.

"Yeah" Draco replied softly, "We all are then…if they don't kill us by force, we may not see tomorrow regardless"

"Where is Haleigh?" Hermione asked suddenly, in realization.

"Gone, out of the country" Draco replied, "I was worried if she stuck around Kinglsey might attempt to remove her to protect his cover. So she is gone, it's just you and me right now"

"Alright. What now then?" she asked folding the letter and placing it in her cloak pocket along with the sample of blood.

"Diagon Alley, it's our last lead. It is that, or nothing"

"Alright then, but if I'm going to die, I won't die hungry. Let's go eat something" Hermione muttered surrendering to the possibility of not seeing tomorrow.


End file.
